The San Francisco Giants have signed All-Star Lefty Carlos Rodon to a two-year, 44 million deal that would include the first major domino in the MLB free agency. According to ESPN’s Jeff Passon, the agreement includes the cancellation of the selection after the first season.
Rodden made the first all-star game of his career last season for the Chicago White Sox, surprisingly, 2021 was the best season of his career. The then 28-year-old won 13-5 with an ERA of 2.37, a WHIP of 0.957 and 185 strikeouts on 132.2 innings. The performance was good enough not only to get an invitation to the Midsummer Classic, but also to finish fifth in the AL Sai Young poll. Oops, and he even threw a no-hitter.
Lefty has been the target of numerous large market teams and for good reason, but this type of deal always has a grip. One example is that since July 18 last year, he has never played more than five innings in a game because he had to deal with a hand injury at the end of the season. He also had a poor performance against the Astros in Game 1 of the ALDS, which came after a 12-day break, where he survived just 2.2 innings.
At the same time, he was the second best player in last year’s WAR on the White Sox, one of the best teams in the American League, moving to a team known for their rehabilitation projects that have not yet survived. To their propaganda. The Giants gave Kevin Gossman some Sai Young buzz early last season, including the first all-star hooker of his career, so they may be able to establish the fact that Rodon did the same at a young age.
In addition, Rodon does not have to be the team’s ace. He can work with the rest of the bullpen to help him if there are moments he can’t go deep. Sure, the big bat isn’t what some fans expected, but there’s nothing wrong with adding a talented pitcher to the roster with the best team in baseball last season.
