SF Giants Place 3 Veterans on Waivers In Salary Dump Attempt

Are the San Francisco Giants throwing in the towel? They sit 5.5 games back of the final Wild Card spot in the National League, so let's call them "fringe contenders" for now. But they have tonight placed three veterans, including one who is having a fine season, on irrevocable waivers, for the purposes of trying to dump their salaries for the remainder of the season.

According to @Ken_Rosenthal, Thairo Estrada, Taylor Rogers and Tyler Matzek are on waivers; anyone can claim them and pay the remainder of their salary. Not unusual this time of year, but Estrada could be of interest to contenders.
— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) August 28, 2024

Reliever Taylor Rogers is the best of the group, but he's also bringing in the highest paycheck. Rogers, a former closer, is earning $12 million this season and next, so any team that puts in a claim on him would pick up the approximately $14 million remaining on his contract.

Rogers, although not closing for the Giants, has a 2.45 ERA this season in 51 innings, with an impressive 59:16 strikeout-to-walk ratio. This is his 9th year in the majors, and second with San Francisco. He has a career 3.36 ERA and 1.17 WHIP.

Thairo Estrada, a second baseman who's been essentially a regular with the Giants for the last few years, is having a rough season, batting just .216, well below the .265 he hit for San Fran the previous two seasons. He's earning $4.7 million, so if he gets claimed, it would save the Giants less than $800,000. He's proven himself as a viable option in the past, however, for a team that has a hole at second base.

Tyler Matzek, 33, had a few nice years out of the bullpen for the Atlanta Braves earlier this decade, but missed the 2023 season due to injury, and has only pitched 10 innings in the majors this year, to very little success. He earns $1.9 million this season, so it would only cost just over $300,000 for a team to pick him up.