11:57pm: The deal between the Nationals and Petit is in place, a source tells MLBTR (links to Twitter). He’ll earn a $3MM guarantee on a one-year deal, taking home $2.5MM in 2016 plus a $3MM club option for the 2017 season that comes with a $500K buyout and vests upon reaching 80 innings pitched.
8:04pm: Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that the Nationals have reached a one-year deal with right-hander Yusmeiro Petit, who was recently non-tendered by the Giants. A source tells MLBTR, though, that while an agreement is in indeed close, there’s still no deal in place.
Petit, who just turned 31, has spent the past four years with San Francisco where he’s worked to a combined 3.66 ERA with 8.8 K/9 against 1.9 BB/9 while splitting time between the rotation and the bullpen. He’ll give the Nationals an option for the final spot in their rotation or could also be deployed in a multi-inning relief capacity — a role in which he thrived with the Giants. While Petit doesn’t throw particularly hard, averaging about 88 mph on his fastball, he’s nonetheless generated above-average swinging-strike rates over his tenure with the Giants, though he took a step back in that regard last season.
Petit is perhaps best-known for setting a Major League record in 2014 when he retired 46 consecutive batters over the course of the summer, narrowly eclipsing Mark Buehrle’s previous record of 45 straight. The Nats know Petit well, as he cemented himself in San Francisco lore by delivering six shutout innings of relief with seven strikeouts in Game 2 of the 2014 NLDS against the Nationals — an 18-inning marathon affair in which Petit was credited with the win.
Was super suprisex we non-tendered him, would be a fine addition to most pitching staffs.
Suprisex? Hot.
I thought he would do well with the cards. But the cards are doing nothing so….
Good pick up for the Nats, perhaps he will be used much like Stammen was used.
This seems like a decent bunch of 7th inning guys the Nats have assembled among the free agents and young guys… Now how about Rizzo dealing with the elephant in the room and getting rid of Papelbon? Is the Haikkado Nippon-Ham Fighters on Papelbon’s no-trade list?
I don’t understand the Giants move to release him other than money. The Nats got a good innings pitcher.
I hate to see him go, but the Giants are trying to pool their free agent spending money and they are well stocked with bullpen options.
Thanks for everything, Yusmeiro. The consecutive outs record, oh so close to pitching a perfect game, and Game 2 of the 2014 NLDS.