Mark Melancon is on the Giants. He will be compensated rather well. This has ramifications. And one of them might be that J.D. Martinez is the Giants’ only hope to improve the outfield.
Because the luxury tax is based on the average annual value of the salary, as well as benefits and bonuses, the Giants are already into the penalty. There was no tiptoeing around it this year, as they’ve tried to do in recent years, and they didn’t even pretend. They’ll pay a 40-percent tax on every dollar spent on salary over $195 million, and they’re already over.