It’s not included in his freshly inked contract, but the first pitcher to start consecutive Opening Days since Madison Bumgarner could very well start five more.
Logan Webb, the Giants’ 26-year-old homegrown ace, signed a five-year, $90 million extension that takes him through the 2028 season. The Giants locked Webb, San Francisco’s most successful development story since the golden years, up for the entirety of his athletic prime. The Rocklin native can pitch with his family sitting behind home plate for the next five seasons. He can pursue postseasons and personal accolades in orange and black. He can keep groundballing opposing lineups to death.
Fans can rally behind him, knowing he won’t be heading anywhere any time soon, as he shepherds the club’s next generation.
“It was just important for me to be able to say I can wear a Giants uniform for a long time,” Webb said Friday afternoon via Zoom. “It’s important not only for myself, but my family and especially my community back home. I know they’re very excited, there’s a lot of die hard Giants fans in Rocklin, California. This is where I want to be. And like I said: it’s an honor.”
Webb’s market value deal is a win for both him and the Giants front office that struck out on Aaron Judge and Carlos Correa this winter. San Francisco’s high-profile efforts to land a superstar in free agency proved unsuccessful, but Webb — a 26-year-old budding superstar starter himself — was right there the whole time.
And now he’ll be with the Giants for the next five seasons after 2023. His contract extension kicks in next year and buys out two arbitration seasons plus three free agent years at an average annual value of $18 million.
Webb’s contract negotiations with the Giants went smoothly, he and president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said. They maintained constant communication even as the season begun and eventually landed on the biggest deal Zaidi has struck with the Giants.
“It’s an exciting commitment for us to make to each other,” Zaidi said.
“Logan is really the embodiment of the kind of player we want to build around,” Zaidi said. “When considering the performance, the competitiveness, his love and ties to the Bay Area, how much the organization means to him as a homegrown player. It’s really the perfect fit. And we’re just delighted to be making this announcement and look forward to having Logan in a Giants uniform for a long time.”
A fourth-round draft pick in 2014, Webb’s path to stardom included Tommy John surgery and a suspension for PEDs — one that he and many others have fought to clear their names of.
Webb emerged as an ace in 2021. He elevated his game even more last year, posting a career best 2.90 ERA in 192.1 innings. The righty has proven he can take on an ace’s workload with his sinker-slider combination that has frustrated opponents. Since 2021, Webb trails only Houston’s Framber Valdez in ground ball rate and leads Major League Baseball in home run suppression.
Last year, Webb posted a 2.90 ERA, which ranked 15th in MLB. Webb finished 11th in Cy Young voting, and his manager Gabe Kapler has said that he expects him to contend for the award perennially.
Signing Webb long-term was a no-brainer, both in terms of roster construction and for keeping a fan-favorite.
The former high school quarterback is beloved in the clubhouse. He’s affable, helping populate last year’s point-and-tap celebration gesture. Back in the old days, when pitchers still hit in the National League, he relished taking on-field batting practice. He walks out to the mound before every start to “Killa Whale” by San Francisco-based rapper Andre Nickatina.
Just five years into his big-league career, Webb already has penned a slew of signature moments as a Giant. His home run in the Giants’ franchise-record 107th win. His Bumgarnian, 14-inning, one-run performance in the NLDS against the rival Dodgers. His two Opening Day starts.
Webb does all the right things. He also says all the right things.
Even after victories, Webb often says that he could’ve pitched better. The best competitors are hard on themselves. Webb is never satisfied.
“I am super frustrated with how my season has started,” Webb, who is 0-3 in 2023, said. “I’ve got to be a lot better. The team knows that, I know that. And I’m excited to start showing that.”
He’s dedicated time to raising awareness to the dangers of fentanyl after his cousin, Kade, died of an accidental overdose in 2021. A chunk of the $450,000 he’s donating to the Giants Community Fund will go to causes related to fentanyl prevention.
In the Zoom press conference announcing his extension, Webb took time to address the admirable, personal cause.
“It’s just important to get the awareness out, especially to our younger generation,” Webb said. “And just know that this shit is out there, and we want to, kind of, attack it.”
Webb has been a leader off the field and has spoken publicly about taking on more of a leadership role with the Giants. Being around so many champions has prepared him for it by osmosis.
Webb has already bridged Giants eras. Former general manager Brian Sabean, the architect of San Francisco’s three World Series teams, led the front office that selected him. When Webb debuted in 2019, he shared a clubhouse with Bumgarner, Brandon Belt and Pablo Sandoval. Bruce Bochy came out from the dugout to get the ball after his first five big league innings — a win over Arizona.
He pitched in the playoffs to Buster Posey and has maintained a tight friendship with both him and his teammate Brandon Crawford.
“To have a guy like Buster and see what he did for the organization and stay for a long time,” Webb said. “I really have been so fortunate to be around a lot of guys that played a long time, but have also been a big part of the San Francisco Giants’ history. I get to play with Craw every day. I got to play with Belt. Got to play with Bumgarner for a year. Just with a lot of guys that were here for a long time. And that was important for me, because I do look up to those guys and I do see what they did. That’s exactly what I want to do.”
Those legendary Giants paid it forward for Webb, who’s already doing the same. This spring, he connected with Kyle Harrison — perhaps SF’s next great starter — and worked closely with him. If the Giants are to contend for the postseason consistently over the duration of Webb’s deal, Harrison will probably have to join Webb atop the rotation.
“I don’t think Logan would’ve signed this type of commitment without feeling like he had a chance to be in the playoffs every year,” Zaidi said.
Hanging on Oracle Park’s brick below the clock in Willie Mays Plaza is a massive poster of Webb fist-pumping. He’s the first image many fans see when they walk into the ballpark, and the last one when they leave.
The scar tissue that this offseason’s unrequited pursuits of Aaron Judge and Carlos Correa might never heal for some. Giants fans’ thirst for a superstar, billboard talent didn’t get quenched. The very real need of a truly everyday presence in the lineup who can swing games against any pitcher remains. And the Giants will continue to seek it.
But perhaps the Giants didn’t necessarily need a facelift. Maybe they just needed to lift one of their faces.