The Giants have signed right-hander Kevin Gausman, Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic was among those to report. It’s a one-year, $9MM contract with up to $1MM in performance bonuses, the team announced. Gausman is a client of Tidal Sports Group.
If he maxes out his bonuses, Gausman will end up with almost the same payday he’d have received had the Reds retained him for 2020. They moved on from Gausman at last week’s non-tender deadline in lieu of paying him a projected $10.6MM next season. However, that doesn’t mean Gausman performed poorly as a member of the Reds, who claimed him off waivers from the Braves in August. On the contrary, the soon-to-be 29-year-old Gausman pitched well over a limited sample of 22 1/3 innings, evidenced by a 4.03 ERA with tremendous strikeout and walk rates of 11.7 and 2.0, respectively.
Of course, Gausman only became a Red because he had trouble preventing runs as a Brave. He put up an ugly 6.19 ERA across 80 innings as a starter before working almost exclusively as a reliever for the Reds. That said, the Atlanta version of Gausman did manage a respectable 4.20 FIP with a similarly solid 9.6 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9. And before Gausman’s career experienced a downturn in Atlanta, he recorded several quality seasons as a starter for the Orioles, who selected him fourth overall in the 2012 draft.
Now that he’s on the fourth team of his career, Gausman will presumably return to a role as a full-time starter. The Giants – whose longtime No. 1 starter, Madison Bumgarner, remains a free agent – are sorely lacking in that department. Unless the Giants re-sign Bumgarner or add another veteran, the hard-throwing Gausman, who has averaged just under 95 mph on his fastball during his time in the majors, looks as if he’ll team with Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija as the elder statesmen of the group. At least for now, Gausman’s guarantee is the largest one president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi has doled out since he joined the organization last winter.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Mr. Zaidi is killing it!
All a set-up for the $700m contracts about to come!
You tried that joke on the last SF thread. It wasn’t funny then either.
Lol I know he did huh
Just cause you say it more doesn’t mean that’s what’s actually gonna happen. I hope you realize that.
Zaidi’s making smart plays here. He just bought a first round pick for about 13 million bucks. Now he’s signing a guy with a lot of prior pedigree as a bounce back candidate. Exactly the way he should be running his team.
Gausman could easily be a flip candidate in a couple months.
Pedigree? Gausman is awful regardless of where he was drafted. He’s, at best, the Giants #5. Nine million for this bum. God help us.
Seems like Zaidi’s making every effort to prove he’ an idiot. Two duds in Anderson and Gausman and a has-been in Cozart. I wonder if Chub Feeney’s available just long enough to right the ship a la Dudley in The Bishops’s Wife.
4.03 ERA in Cincy last year and 3.92 the year before. If that is awful to you then not sure what you have been watching.
Conveniently glaze over his 6.19 in ATL last year?
You seem to be looking at this pretty short sighted. He essentially bought a prospect taken in the first round last year for 12 mil. Zaidi could waive Cozart tomorrow and no one would bat an eye because he essentially strengthened his farm system for cash.
Anderson and Gausman are only one year deals. At worst their pitching depth and at best you can flip them at the deadline like you did with Pomeranz last year. Either way no risk.
You’re an idiot
I thought it was funny.
Makes sense, nice upside play and they have the money to spend.
cool
Stoves starting to heat up!!!’
Well then
What in the blazes are the Giants doing?
It would appear they are stockpiling both prospects and low risk, high upside guys to trade if/when they don’t pull off a miracle run by the trade deadline.
High upside?
Low risk?
Gausman could be good…emphasis on could. If he is, then he could net them a decent prospect at the deadline. Much like Pomeranz last year.
If he is not good, it is not that much money to eat, and he is gone in 2020. Zaidi is not concerned about competing this year. He is concerned about stocking the farm.
Bigdaddy, why do so many of you casuals not understand “low risk” in a baseball sense? High risk is committing 3 years and 28 million dollars to a player like Kyle Gibson when opening your window. Low risk is tying up a roster spot for just 1 year when not trying to be ultra-competitive like San Fran is doing here. There’s zero risk for them. If Gausman sucks they eat the $9 million. If he’s good they flip him for a prospect. Not like they can’t afford it.
There is no upside to Gausman. He has six years of mediocrity.
4.03 ERA in Cincinnati last season and 3.92 in 2018. That is better than average. Not mediocre.
Gausman has been better than average over the course of his career but he was not last season. To post his ERA from 2 months in Cincinnati where he was mostly a reliever is just as bush league. It was 22 innings, mostly out of the bullpen.
signing bodies, I guess.
Buying prospects and bounce back guys who might be able to be flipped at the deadline if he pitches to his potential. Exactly what a rich team that needs to rebuild should be doing.
Agreed. Always love your perspective snotrocket!!
Preparing to finish last in their division
That’s what was said last year too! And they past the Rockies and the padres! Stupid comment!
The proper word is “passed” not “past”. Past refers to time. Passed refers to placement. I hope this helped you.
So… congrats???
Not exactly a “good” thing.
Team with bloated contracts and no farm like the Giants should be asking for top 3 picks next couple years till money comes off the books. Build the farm.
They got the Angels’ #4 prospect for taking Cozart.
Um…you might wanna read up. Its not 2018 anymore. By midseason this season…the Giants farm ranked 15th. They are even higher now.
Fangraphs now rates our farm system 14th in MLB; not awesome, but progress. 6 months ago, we had 5 guys in the system with 45 or more future value; we now have 10.
As for the Gausman signing, our rotation needs some help this year to just keep the lights on and protect younger pitchers from overexposure. Shark/Cueto/Webb/Beede/Rodriguez with not much depth after that. Don’t see the problem with a 1-year deal like this.
Did you really expect them to finish first?
The Rockies and Padres will have something to say about that. Neither has gotten better so far this offseason and neither has money to spend. The Giants have about $65 million left after Gaussman and Cozart if they are looking to stay under the CBT.
He had a -1.0 WAR on a first place team?
1.6 WAR for the season.
Not bad!
My head tells me to like this deal, but my heart tells me the odds of Bumgarner coming back have gone down
your head shoulda told you he wasn’t coming back right after the WS ended
Is he going to be a reliever?
Not at that contract amount, starter all the way.
Maybe both. Swing!
Lols
Good signing, good upside, easy to be flipped. And people were hating the rangers for signing lyles to a 2 year 16 mil deal. But the Giants sign gausman to a 9 million pact, and people congratulate them, one of the two actually had a good season last year too… pathetic. (I know 1 year vs. 2 years, but still.)
Yup, the odds of him being flipped at the trading deadline are pretty high.
Who is going to want Gausman? The guy is terrible and always has been.
Kevin boned Petey’s girlfriend
Giants and Rangers are 2 different situations. Giants are banking on Gausmans upside to flip him, Rangers on Lyles second half of 2019 to help them contend.
Makes the Pineda contract look pretty great
Hey! Give Pineda a jar of pine tar and steroids and he does okay….
Seems a tad expensive for his recent performances… should have made it even more incentive based
Wow, almost the amount he was set to get in arbitration. Figured we were looking at $5-$6M + incentives.
The market is good for starting pitchers. Nine million is a lot for him, but it could be a great signing.
Likes the serve up home runs but when hes a in a groove he will give you 7 innings with a 450 era
Oracle park is not a hitters park. Even after they move the fences in.
Let’s hope we all raise children to be losing pitchers. They still get paid.
Will the Giants send both Johnny Cueto and Evan Longoria to the Braves? Would the Braves take the contracts plus a couple prospects to give the Giants??
No. Why would they? The Giants want to compete every year, and trading Cueto does not help them do that. He was lights out the last time he was healthy, and he’s healthy again. Trading him now is when his value is lowest. If they were to consider trading him, the deadline, after he hopefully demonstrates he’s back, would be the time.
Longo is about MLB average now. The problem is he’s paid like an all-star, but the Giants can afford him.
tad2b13
“The Giants want to compete every year”
They do? Could’ve fooled me. Because basically, they suck. They need to rebuild.
Can’t win every year bro. Keep dreaming if you think that. What goes up must come down.
Mo4ever
It’s your opinion they should rebuild, and you’re entitled to that, but that’s irrelevant to the point being made. Regardless of the success or failure of the past few seasons, they do want to compete every year, and they do not rebuild. They went after Stanton, and Harper.
Despite your opinion of what they should do, they will not trade Cueto, until the deadline, if at all. Longo is another story, and if they could move him, and upgrade at 3B they will. It’s doubtful they can, but their aim to compete every year remains.
Longoria is not a great player anymore. Injury prone. Time for him to go. Keep Cueto. Still a great player.
AA should be fired if he does that.
braves4life1, the Braves are not negotiating for Longoria whatsoever. I just read an article that came out 30 minutes ago that said 3B will be filled via a free agent.
That doesn’t always mean it will happen that way. Especially if you don’t get the free agent you want.
No I am sure what you read was the middle of the order bat will be filled in FA. After Rendon (too pricey) & Donaldson (too many years) what is there Todd Frazier ???
The more the Giants eat of Longoria’s contract the better the prospect going back. Still got Camargo to share time and Riley to come up.
If all things being equal I wouldn’t mind Longo if we can get him for under $14 million a year.
Lol you can have Longo for 14 mil a year!!!!!! Lol
No one wants Longoria.
Dude was at least decent back with the Orioles, what went wrong?
He wasn’t that decent with the Orioles
He’s ALWAYS been terrible. Whose stats are you looking at?
Gausman has a CAREER ERA+ of 99. Which, by that measure, rates him as an average pitcher. Not horrible, not terrible, but average.
I was hoping that the Reds would be able to re-sign Gausman after the non-tender. He pitched well for the Reds last year, albeit in a small sample size.
Everyone tries to take former orioles and turn them into arrieta. Maybe they’ll make me eat my words, but bundy and gausman are not good pitchers
Gausman averaged a 105 ERA+ for the 4 years from 2015 through 2018. A bad 2019 does not make him a bad pitcher. He’ll only be 29 next season. Maybe he’ll be bad again in 2020, but the prediction is not as clear as you make it.
5% better than league average doesn’t make him good, either…
Yes it does. It doesn’t make him great, but if he’s above average how do you classify him if not good?
Enjoy that negative WAR Gnat fans.
There’s nothing negative about it other than his first season, and his stint in Atlanta. Otherwise, he has a 10.6 WAR over his 7 seasons.
“10.6 WAR over his 7 seasons”
You say that like it’s a good thing.
M04ever
What’s your deal? Are you here to discuss baseball or troll? The statement was made that he had a negative WAR. I was simply pointing out that was incorrect. You can quibble all you want about how good a 10.6 WAR for 7 seasons is, but once again, you totally miss the point.
Mo4ever
BTW: Pomeranz has a 10.9 WAR for 9 seasons and just signed a 4 year/$34m deal.
Kyle Gibson has a 9.6 WAR for 7 seasons, and he just got 3 years/$30m.
Wade Miley, #24 on the Top 50 FA list has a 10.8 War for 9 seasons.
So why is signing Gausman for 1 year/$9m so bad?
This. The way this free agency period has gone so far, this could easily be a good value. It could crash and burn, but the Giants can afford misses of this magnitude.
We don’t call the Giants fans Gnat fans. That’s Washington rook.
Ohhhh, that is gonna sting. Better get some Bactine…
Gausman gives up gophers. SF is a good place for him. Next Giants signing, Teheran.
Giants got their ace
I hope that’s sarcasm.
The briefcase isn’t ours. Some lady left it at the airport. We’re just bringing it back to her. How’s your burger?
9 million?!?
Does SF intend to use Gausman as a SP or in relief?
Yes
$9MM says he’s there to be a SP
If you suck then you become a relieve or sent to the minors so we will see.
Yeah and that would make this a horrible signing.
I wish him the best, but seems like a lot for a pitcher who was…oh what is the technical term…oh yeah, not good.
Surprised he got a guarantee for that amount. Def a good bounceback candidate though
Bounce back from what? He hasn’t had a decent year in MLB, ever!
What stats are you looking at? In 2016 he had 30 starts, a 3.61 ERA, only 1/3 of an inning short of 180 IP, and close to a SO per inning, with a 119 ERA+. That is not only decent it’s actually quite good. He was decent in 2014 with a 110 ERA+, and 2018 with a 108 ERA+.
Pete, you need glasses. Badly.
As many of you said, the deal was made so that he can be next year’s Pomeranz.. The salary is a little high, but he’s young and I suspect Zaidi is about to move salary in the next day or so.
Too much money
Not really. Two comps are Pomeranz and Gibson. Pomeranz has an AAV of $8.5m, but for 4 years. Gibson is getting $10m per for 3 years.
Relief pitcher. $9M for 1 year and his arm is fine. Giants can flip him later as we saw in July, always demand for big arms.
$9m for a bad pitcher
Gausman to the bullpen?
He’s next year’s Pomeranz, when Zaidi can snag another team’s high prospect. This assumes however that the Giants stand pat with their starters. But there’s no guarantee that Shark doesn’t get moved once the major FA starters get new homes and out-of-luck contenders don’t look for innings-eaters on a short commitment.
this fcking midget dont know wut the fck he doing. he built the stadium in a fcked up area in maryladn. majority of skins fans dont even live that way. and fcking staidum is worst stadium son.
that midget, ill beat da fck outta u u fcking moron. u ruined the best franchise and sports team in history. u stupid fcking midget
I’m sorry about your stroke.
Oh, boy. Oh, boy. Every bit as good as Baumgartner, eh?
Not only did no one say that, it wasn’t even implied.
You’re in a long, dark hotel corridor. You can see a faint light a few years ahead of you but for the next year or two, it appears very dark. To your left there is a gelatinous cube. Is it your next center fielder? You roll the 28-sided dice. Six! You non-tender the gelatinous cube and lose nine million hit points by signing right hander, Kevin Gausman. The gelatinous cube oozes away, conspiring to cast a charm of compulsion against MadBum.
Can I play? I’ve got a halfling fighter/shortstop.
My sleeper lights out closer breakout for 2020. Gausman has amazing pen potential.
Gausman is a stubborn and small-minded little goofball.
Until he grows up and matures he will always under-perform….
This deal makes zero sense….he has only had any real success as an RP, and that’s in limited innings…and you don’t pay $9m for a RP…and as an SP, $9m is not that flippable and feels like a premature overpay for a potential #5 innings eater….
Any chance Farhan thinks Gausman can close?? Then he’s flippable for sure.