The Giants have made the first addition to their rotation under new president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi, announcing on Monday that they’ve re-signed left-hander Derek Holland to a one-year deal with a club option for the 2020 season.
Holland’s contract reportedly comes with a $7MM guarantee in the form of a $6.5MM base salary for the 2019 season and a $500K buyout on a 2020 option that has the same $6.5MM base. The option year’s base salary will increase to $7MM if he makes 24 starts in 2019, $7.5MM if he makes 28 starts and $8.5MM if he makes 32 starts. All told, the Martini Sports Management client can earn $15MM over the next two seasons if he remains healthy and the option is exercised.
Holland, 32, enjoyed a career revival with the Giants last season. Once a promising young lefty with the Rangers, Holland missed the vast majority of the 2014 season due to microfracture surgery in his left knee, and shoulder issues plagued him in each of the next two seasons. A one-year deal to rebuild his stock with the White Sox in 2017 didn’t pan out, but last year’s minor league deal with the Giants proved to be one of the season’s most productive minor league signings.
Holland led Giants pitchers in games started (30) and in total innings (171 1/3), pitching to a 3.57 ERA with 8.9 K/9, 3.5 BB/9, 1.00 HR/9 and a 39.8 percent ground-ball rate. Holland’s velocity didn’t return to it peak levels (94.3 mph) and probably never will, as he averaged just 91.6 mph on his heater last season. However, that’s not to say his success isn’t sustainable; the lefty’s swinging-strike rate jumped from 7.1 percent to 10.1 percent from 2017 to 2018, and his opponents’ chase rate on out-of-zone pitches jumped by a hefty 5.6 percent (from 25 percent to 30.6 percent).
Mutual interest between the two sides was no secret, with Holland saying near the end of the season that he would like to return to the Giants in 2019 and beyond. The lefty also drew interest from other clubs, most recently including the Mets and the Reds, and the Rangers were also said to have interest in a reunion. Instead, he’ll return to one of the game’s premier pitchers’ parks — the recently re-named Oracle Park — for at least the forthcoming season.
With Johnny Cueto likely out for the season following Tommy John surgery, Holland will slot in behind top starter Madison Bumgarner and line up alongside the likes of Dereck Rodriguez, Andrew Suarez and a hopefully healthier Jeff Samardzija in 2019. Left-hander Ty Blach and righties Tyler Beede and Chris Stratton represent alternate rotation options on the 40-man roster, should the need arise.
The addition of Holland pushes the Giants’ projected Opening Day payroll north of $167MM and brings their luxury tax ledger north of $172MM. It seems likely that some additional moves — be they trades or further free-agent signings — will change that calculus, although Farhan Zaidi strongly downplayed the chances of an offseason Bumgarner trade over the weekend. Of course, if Holland is able to replicate last season’s success but the Giants are unable to rebound as a collective unit, then both he and Bumgarner could find themselves being marketed to contending clubs come July.
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported the agreement and the terms of the contract (Twitter links).
Yes, i’m Glad to see him back with the Giants.
Happy to have Dutch back!
Yessss. Second
Seems pretty cheap for a guy that gave them 30 starts.
Look at his 3 years prior to last and you’ll see why
I know he sucks but 7 mil is cheap today even for lousy starters especially if they just gave you 30 starts and a 3.45 era.
Sorry 3.57
Half his starts in the ultimate pitchers park?
Sprinkle in la and San Diego’s Parks
You got your answers to the era
He wasn’t even at starter level for war. That cusp sits at 2 and his war was 1.8
I’m not even into this war bs but as this team decides what it will do they need someone to eat innings
The “cusp” you’re talking about is for an average player, not starter level. Very few teams have five starters with 2 war or more.
Holland was pretty much dead-even home and away last year:
Home
82 IP, 3.51 ERA, 8.9 K9
Away
89 IP, 3.63 ERA, 8.9 K9
You argue that pitching in SD was part of why his ERA was so sparkling, but clearly you haven’t done any research – he had a 5.52 ERA in SD.
You also conveniently leave out the fact that had to pitch in ARI and COL.
Obviously you don’t watch Baseball
I’ll still stand by my statement, 7 mil is cheap in 2019 to get 30 starts/3.57. The Dodgers are paying Hill and Ryu 18 mil each and will be lucky to get 30 starts from either. I’m not comparing Holland to them but value is value and SF got tremendous value here.
His bWAR was 2.1 and fWAR was 2.0.
Best suited to this park
Good job Farhan, this rotation needed some innings to be eaten with Rodriguez, Suarez, and Stratton lined up for time. Holland has been a good Giant and clearly he’s comfortable with the organization it would seem at these prices.
Still need an outfielder. Content with keeping the remaining pieces their to avoid blocking any prospects come 2020 and 2021.
1 year deal is great – lets see if he can repeat last year!
Nice. Glad hes staying here.
Glad Holland is returning to the Giants. Adds some stability to the rotation.
Hopefully Farhan will be smart enough to trade him when they are out of it if Holland is useful again.
Yeah um… I’m pretty sure Mr. MIT Zaidi is at the very least as smart as you.
Idk this guy could be a snot rocket scientist
Making trades to bolster the farm was clearly beyond the previous GM.
I see Mad Bum, Will Smith, & Tony Waston all being moved before the deadline. And now Holland if he is pitching well.
Based on the name, this HAS to be an Xabial burner account.
…we are on to you, Mr X!
lol! Xabial is the man, but this isnt a burner acct. Although it is a new account since they blocked my comments bc i said a bad word one time maybe.
Glad its for one year with club option. Picked him for the Giants, but i did think he would get two years guaranteed.
So glad he is coming back. I didn’t think Farhan was even looking to bring him back.
I dont think Holland will repeat his 2017 numbers, but I still like this signing. Cheap and gives the a decent arm.
Well for the Giants sake, let´s hope he doesn´t repeat his 2017 numbers!
haha!! 2018* …. thanks pinstripes lol
maybe I need to change my name to commenting dummy lol
Lol! It´s fine we all make mistakes, its all good man!
nice, finally on the board in the FA contest. (i believe)
i guess the best thing to say about this is why ruin a good thing? keep it going.
It needs to be remembered that for all the knocks against him, Bobby Evans also signed Holland, which as Steve noted turned out to be one of the better moves last off-season. Now getting him to be the de facto #2/3 for only $6.5M on a one-year deal is another smart move, and all the better if Shark comes back this season at even 85-90% of his pre-2018 Giants self. As others have said, Zaidi can now move both Holland and perhaps Shark (even with his limited NTC) during the season for prospects if the Giants are noncompetitive.
With this done, Zaidi will probably focus now on getting prospects for Smith and/or Watson.
Holland was one of the best minor league contracts of the year last year. Rodriguez was one of the best minor league free agent signings.
The Longoria deal, however, shows the other side of the coin.
Subtle, solid move. Gets the pitching staff finalized. Time to focus on grabbing a vet bat to help those kids out there next.
Sign Bryce now
Please don’t
He’s a spoiled brat that will never live up to the contract he’ll sign this offseason
Plus it’d handicap the payroll for a decade
Nice move by both sides. Giants have little downside on a one year deal with an option, Holland has a shot at 2 years of MLB time and to be flipped for prospects if the Giants fall out.
Wise decision by Holland.
I was hoping BVW would sign him to be our #5 pushing Vargas to the bullpen….
Obviously I would love for Harper or Machado…..but realistically that isn’t going to happen. Upgrading the 5th starter is the last move the Mets need to make. Gio Gonzalez, Wade Miley, Clay Bucholtz or Jeremy Hellickson would all be an upgrade over Vargas pushing him to long relief. I would go for a lefty…so either GOnzalez or Miley. Gio has the longer track record…..Miley is younger with more upside. I would go with Gonzalez…sign him for 1yr/$8.5mil with incentives to make it a potential 1yr/$10mil deal
deGrom
Syndergaard
Wheeler
Matz
Gonzalez
I feel the Mets can contend with this rotation (even with Vargas…tho Gio would be much better)
All of BVW’s moves have vastly improved this roster….even his depth acquisitions were very good in my opinion…
JD Davis just needed more ab’s…
Broxton at worst provides great D and speed..any offense is a bonus…
Santiago and Avilan were savvy additions to the pitching staff.
Overall…i love the rotation…the offense is much improved….defense has been upgraded and the bench is solid.
If Alonso isn’t quite ready or Frazier is…well…Frazier…
These improvements on the bench will pay immense dividends.
Don’t care about ny muts
Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes. . . You don’t sign this guy Unless there is at least a commitment to Winning in the first half of the season. . . Good Job. Go get another starter in spring. Maybe long man to the mix. And start working your way down. . . Backup catcher. Infielder. And TWO Outfielders. !!!!!!!
One thing players say about the Giants… Win or lose since Posey and Boch have been there. They love playing for the Giants. Now that Strickland is gone I think everyone will really come back together. Need another starter for sure and 10 new outfielders. Let’s do this. Lol
Ok…..I think this is a good move. Great clubhouse guy. He’ll probably grab Pence too. Lol. Why not? Sign Pence to a one year deal and see what and if he can stay healthy and produce!
Pence is done. You don’t waste a spot on a guy like that.
Nobody said waste a spot, sign him to a minors deal with an invite. Cmon dude. You have no clue if Pence is done or not. He’s a cheap Giants favorite, that will sell tickets if he makes the club.
Watching him suck the last couple of years when he manages to get healthy enough to play would suggest he is done. Signing or extending fan favorites who can no longer contribute to winning baseball games is what the old regime would have done.
On a Minor League deal, maybe.
Meh, guys like him and Panda are useless on a club like this. Sure maybe they can rebound and be ok, but still the team most likely won’t be in the hunt and it just ruins the chance to see what a young player can do. His upside is probably something like 260/320 with 15 home runs, nothing special.
I’m so happy the Rangers didn’t sign him!
with this signing, the giants cemented a below .500 record.
I just tripped over my dog typing this.
Who’d you get your dog from, Doc Ellis?
Would have loved to see him in NY but kudos to him. Giants treated him well, he did well and he said lets keep this going. Almost certainly could have gotten more money elsewhere but after a career of ups and downs i think he wisely valued more than just salary
Seems like a nice, team friendly deal. Very cool that it’s just for one year, and even cooler that it’s a team option. Seems that Zaidi was circumspect to wait out the market, and get a bit of a bargain.
My guess is that Evans would have jumped in there with an immediate 2 year/$16M re-sign. Props to Evans for bringing Dutch to the G-Men in the first place. Props to Zaidi for keeping Holland. Good Giant. Seems extremely well liked by his teammates.
Love Holland and so happy with this decision. Good decisions this off-season? Keep Will Smith. Keep Holland. Fire Hunter Strickland. If Strickland ends up anywhere I hope it’s for Baltimore Minors and gets cut after 2 months (no offense to Baltimore, you just had a hideous ‘18 record, even worse than the Giants). Do I sound happy and hostile at the same time?