Giants pick up 2018 options on Madison Bumgarner, Matt Moore

Two well known baseball veterans hit the open market Monday when the Los Angeles Dodgers declined to pick up the option on outfield Andre Ethier and the Toronto Blue Jays did the same on outfielder Jose Bautista.

Ethier, 35, the longest tenured player on the roster, had a $17.5 million option for next season. He was in the final year of a five-year, $85 million deal and the Dodgers will pay him a $2.5 million buyout.

Bautista, 36, will get a $500,000 buyout from the Blue Jays, who declined to pick up his $17.5 million option.

GIANTS HOLD ONTO PITCHERS

Madison Bumgarner’s $12 million option for the 2018 season has been exercised by the San Francisco Giants, who are determined to keep a talented rotation intact as the club looks to bounce back from a last-place season.

The Giants locked up Bumgarner long-term in April 2012 on a $35.56 million, six-year contract through this year. The deal includes another $12 million option for 2019.

Bumgarner missed nearly three months this past season following a dirt bike accident during an off day in Colorado on April 20.

As planned, San Francisco also exercised the $7 million option for lefty Matt Moore.

The team also formally announced the hiring of former A’s and Red Sox pitching coach Curt Young to replace longtime pitching coach Dave Righetti. On deck is new hitting coach Alonzo Powell, who was Houston’s assistant hitting coach. Powell replaces Hensley Meulens, who was promoted to bench coach.

ROCKIES’ HOLLAND WALKS

All-Star closer Greg Holland declined to exercise a $15 million player option with the Colorado Rockies.

Holland bolstered Colorado’s bullpen this year by saving a franchise record-tying 41 games in his first season since Tommy John surgery.

Holland, 31, was at his best before the All-Star break, when he converted 28 of 29 save chances and had a 1.62 ERA. He struggled in the second half, going 13 of 16 in save opportunities with a 6.38 ERA.

ASTROS COACH RECOVERING

Houston Astros first base coach Rich Dauer is recovering after surgery on a blood clot in his brain.

Dauer, 65, was rushed to a hospital Friday immediately after Houston’s championship parade.

Dauer played for the Baltimore Orioles from 1976-85, winning a World Series in 1983. Dauer was hired by the Astros after the 2014 season.

RAYS WILL KEEP EOVALDI

The Tampa Bay Rays exercised a $2 million option for next season on right-hander Nathan Eovaldi, who missed all of last season while recovering from Tommy John surgery in August 2016, when he was with the New York Yankees.

CASHMAN EXPLAINS FIRING

New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman was concerned with Joe Girardi’s “connectivity and communication level” with players in deciding to replace him last month as New York’s manager.

Cashman decided it was time for a “new voice” and a “fresh voice” in the job and said there may be a “shelf life” to a manager’s tenure with a team.

Girardi, in the last year of a four-year contract, led the Yankees to a 91-71 record in 2017, their best mark since 2012.