Right-hander Joe Nathan last donned a Giants uniform in 2003, but it looks like he’ll have the chance to do so again in the near future, as Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports reports that Nathan is set to sign a minor league pact with San Francisco (Twitter link). The deal is still pending a physical, tweets Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Originally selected by the Giants in the sixth round of the 1995 draft, Nathan broke into the Majors with the Giants in 1999 and settled in as a strong late-inning relief option with a breakout season in 2003. That campaign preceded a trade that sent Nathan, Francisco Liriano and Boof Bonser to the Twins in exchange for A.J. Pierzynski, after which Nathan went on to establish himself as one of the most successful closers in recent history. At 41 years of age and with a recent Tommy John surgery under his belt, Nathan is no lock to perform like he did in his peak years with the Twins and Rangers, but he looked solid during a brief stint with the Cubs in 2016 and will give manager Bruce Bochy some much-needed depth in his bullpen, either later this month or perhaps when rosters expand in September. Schulman tweets that the Giants may not wait until Sept. 1 to bring Nathan up if he is throwing well.
Current closer Santiago Casilla has had some struggles since the All-Star break, most recently blowing a two-run lead against the Orioles by serving up a three-run homer to Jonathan Schoop over the weekend. Nathan could eventually join Hunter Strickland, Derek Law, Sergio Romo and George Kontos as another right-handed option for Bochy to deploy in the final weeks of a playoff push. The six-time All-Star allowed four runs on three hits and five walks with nine strikeouts in 9 1/3 innings on a minor league rehab assignment earlier this summer and fired a pair of scoreless innings for the Cubs (two hits, two walks, four strikeouts) before being designated for assignment and subsequently released.
Good move for the Giants! Nathan should be helpful in the bullpen to try to secure them the NL West.
A.J. Pierzynski….. dark times man
Why do Giants fans hate him so much?
Partly because of the sky high price Brian Sabean paid to acquire him, partly because he was a major under-performer on the field and seemed less and less interested as his one season in SF went on, partly because he was a complete #$%@! in the clubhouse.
It must have been the rest of the Giants clubhouse that caused AJ to act that way, because he’s been one of the funniest, coolest, and most respectable players on the Braves the last two years. Shows what a good environment will do for a player.
He’s older now but when he was young he was a prima donna who thought his s**t didn’t stink even though he underperformed, as noted earlier.
I find it hard to believe that 3 players involved in a trade 13 years ago are still in the Majors.
Still irks me how the Giants completely blew it with Joe Nathan. Was he a starter? Was he a middle reliever? He clearly had promise, but they couldn’t figure out what to do with him. The Twins didn’t mess around — just gave him a fixed role and he thrived.
Giants pen is pathetic
If he does well in the minors he should be brought in to relief a couple times and if he does well maybe closer by committee. I know it’s a long shot of him getting saving opportunities but at this point it’s worth a shot since it seems the bullpen can’t seem to show a closer (Casilla should of been out of the job long ago but seems to stay in there) and Law needs more experience
To say Casillas has had “some” struggles of late is a huge understatement! He’s blown it way too many times for the Giants!
True that for the entire bullpen! But hey, we got another starter from Tampa Bay who’ll help us for year to some (Yes, I’m being sarcastic).
As a lifelong Giants fan, I have to rate Nathan’s trade as one of the top 2 or 3 worse in my memory (right up there with Gaylord for Sudden Sam McDowell… as in a Sudden Bust). I pray he makes it back to the Big Club so that I can stop crying every time I see him save games for someone else!