Giants stay the course, re-sign Jake Peavy to two-year deal
It’s becoming increasingly obvious that general managers around Major League Baseball don’t place sleep high on their list of priorities. When they’re closing in on a deal? Forget about it.
The latest late night/early morning deal is brought to us by Fox Sports Ken Rosenthal, who reports the San Francisco Giants and GM Brian Sabean have reached an agreement to bring back veteran right-hander Jake Peavy on a two-year deal.
ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick later confirmed the overnight agreement and the financials, which come in at $24 million guaranteed.
While the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres aggressively move furniture around in hopes of surpassing the Giants in the NL West, the defending World Series champions have yet to make an addition of note this winter. That’s significant on its own accord, but it becomes more glaring when you consider they’ve also lost a cornerstone in Pablo Sandoval, who last month inked a five-year, $95 million deal with the Boston Red Sox.
While necessary reinforcements haven’t come in just yet, the Giants are at least keeping other notable pieces on board. On Wednesday, they re-signed reliever Sergio Romo to a potentially steep two-year, $15 million deal. Steep because they’re counting on a bounce-back season from a former closer, which is far from a sure thing. But perhaps not as risky in their mind because of familiarity and comfort on both sides.
Now they’ve agreed to bring back the 33-year-old Peavy as well with a multi-year deal, which at least one scout told Yahoo’s Jeff Passan he wasn’t sure he’d be willing to do. Again, though, familiarity and comfort may have won out, and it’s not difficult to understand why considering Peavy’s contributions down the stretch.
After being acquired from Boston ahead of the trade deadline, Peavy posted a 2.12 ERA in 12 regular season starts. He was less effective in the postseason, posting a 6.19 ERA in 16 innings, but he’d done his part to help get them there, much like he’d done with Boston one year earlier, and he’s a guy you know Bruce Bochy will be comfortable running out there every fifth day.
The price matches what the Giants will need him to be, which is an experienced starter who soaks up innings in the middle of the rotation. But the bigger question may end up being how this will effect their pursuit of free-agent James Shields, who’s similar to Peavy in some ways but provides a higher ceiling and therefore a higher price tag. Will he still be in play for San Francisco, or is this a sign the Giants will focus more on staying the course with pieces they already have rather than making a splash?
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
