Everyone knew the San Francisco Giants would extend a $19.65 million qualifying offer to Carlos Rodón. But almost no one was talking about Joc Pederson as a possibility. The Giants have been the most aggressive team in baseball with qualifying offers the last few years—as evidenced by the fact that Kevin Gausman (2020) and Brandon Belt (2021) are the last two players in the sport to accept the offer. Joc Pederson very possibly will be the third SF Giants player in three years to accept the qualifying offer.

Are there any downsides? Only if the roughly $20 million stops the Giants from doing something else they might've done that would've helped them more. Pederson is a good but imperfect player. He crushes right-handed pitching but struggles against lefties. He was one of the worst defenders in baseball in 2022, but hasn't been quite that bad historically. Offering Pederson nearly $20M on a one-year deal is aggressive by the SF Giants, but it's not insane. Reports indicate that he has received interest from teams on a possible three-year deal, and that his value may be helped significantly by the league's ban on defensive shifts, which goes into effect next season.

Elsewhere in hot stove news, Aaron Judge is officially on the open market. He's free to sign with any team, and the San Francisco Giants make as much sense as any. At what point does his potential contract become too much? And is a 7-, 8-, or 9-year deal too much for Judge, who will be 31 in year one of any new contract? If the Giants don't land Judge, who is the next most likely? There's not necessarily a huge drop-off with the new best free agents, Carlos Correa and Trea Turner. Those players also have youth on their side more so than Judge.

Find and follow Locked On Giants on your favorite podcast platforms:

🎧 Apple Podcasts http://apple.co/3ycRK3U

🎧 Spotify http://spoti.fi/3Bak0pN

🎧 Google Play https://bit.ly/3D356mr

🎧 Overcast https://bit.ly/3wqZsbg

🎧 Megaphone https://bit.ly/3wGGcXD

The best daily San Francisco Giants podcast. Whether the Giants are winning championships or retooling for another title run, Locked On Giants host Ben Kaspick—a lifelong Giants fan and former contributor for RotoGraphs and Beyond the Box Score—breaks down every game, rumor, and transaction in a way that's data-driven and rational but also simple, passionate, and accessible to all.

Follow Ben Kaspick on Twitter, where he’ll be sharing the latest news about the San Francisco Giants and talking with fans.

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/BenKaspick

#SFGiants #FirstListen

Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!

Built Bar

Built Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.

BetOnline

BetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!

SimpliSafe

With Fast Protect™️ Technology, exclusively from SimpliSafe, 24/7 monitoring agents capture evidence to accurately verify a threat for faster police response. There’s No Safe Like SimpliSafe. Visit SimpliSafe.com/LockedOnMLB to learn more.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices