Right-hander John Gant has signed with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of Nippon Professional Baseball, as first reported by Daily Sports in Japan. The team has not yet formally announced the agreement, but sources confirmed the deal to MLBTR. It’s a one-year contract.
Gant, 29, elected free agency early in the offseason after the Twins passed him through outright waivers. The longtime Cardinals righty landed in Minnesota (alongside minor league lefty Evan Sisk) via the deadline trade that sent J.A. Happ to St. Louis.
The 2021 campaign was something off a mixed bag for Gant. Although he posted a plenty respectable 4.09 ERA in 110 innings, he also logged the second-lowest strikeout rate (18.7%), the highest walk rate (14.5%) and the lowest average fastball velocity (92.4 mph) of his six-year Major League career. He’d have been arbitration-eligible for the final time this winter had the Twins opted to keep him on the 40-man roster.
While Gant has never been a dominant strikeout arm or a pinpoint command specialist, he still carries a very solid 3.89 ERA through 372 2/3 Major League frames. He was particularly effective out of the St. Louis bullpen from 2019-20, pitching to a combined 3.43 ERA with a near-identical 3.44 FIP through 81 1/3 frames. He fanned 23.6% of his opponents against a 12.4% walk rate during that time, adding a hearty 49% grounder rate as well.
Gant has worked as both a starter and a reliever in his big league career thus far, with a good bit more success in relief than out of the rotation. The Fighters, however, could potentially deploy him in the rotation. Former big leaguers Drew VerHagen and Robbie Erlin both made some starts for the Fighters this past season — the former more effective and more heavily used than the latter — but both became free agents at season’s end. Gant is the second former big leaguer to join the Fighters late this week, as they announced a deal with infielder Arismendy Alcantara earlier today.
Do they fight against ham, or do they use ham to fight with?
Nippon Ham is the team’s sponsor. The team is just called the Fighters. No ham is fought/used to fight unfortunately 🙁
“It’d be alot cooler if they did”
Maybe they fight over the ham. Players gather around for post game dinner and they throw some hams in the middle of the group. Those that win get to eat 🙂
Alright, alright, alright
There’s been a lot of speculation on this. They use the ham to fight with.
The Braves basically turned Gant into Huascar Ynoa via trades. Some of which I wasn’t thrilled about. I guess it worked out though. I always liked Gant and wish him luck. Smart move going overseas and getting paid during this lockout.
Wrong. They turned Jaime Garcia and Anthony Recker into Ynoa.
Gant was part of the return one of the times the Braves traded Kelly Johnson to the Mets.
@sid. Actually I am correct. Dec 1st 2016 Braves trade John
Gant + Luke Dykstra + Chris Ellis to the Cardinals for Jaime Garcia. July 24th 2017 Braves trade Jaime Garcia + Anthony Recker + cash to the Twins for Huascar Ynoa. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/garcija02.shtml. Click on the link go to transactions it confirms it.
I like to think of them like freedom fighters. But instead of fighting for freedom for all, they took up ham as their cause.
I could read that post 100 times and laugh. Thank u
Meant for u ducey but also hippy/ fletcher/gozurman
Maybe they tried to quit cold turkey and switched to ham
Thought Gant could find a ML job. He’d have a strong chance to be the orioles #3.
Right, definitely had a chance to sign MLB? Makes you wonder? What’s wrong with America?
A lockout??? Guaranteed money sooner than later?
That’s a loaded question
Oh wait…. I know… it’s looking like maybe there’s not going to be a season cause owners and greed ect ect
Gee I should have guessed that!
I guess he doesn’t want to be scrambling in February/March because of the lockout. I would think he would have found a few takers.
Getting to live in Japan for a year and maybe building up some value is a pretty good plan B though.
He probably gets to start out there instead of being a swingman/depth option.
The numbers are definitely good enough to still play in the MLB but I’d imagine teams want him for the bullpen and then as like a backup option to spot start if needed.
If he can perform well enough in Japan he can probably lock down a decent sized guaranteed deal to start in the bigs for 2023
Yup, I could see him being quite good for a year in Japan and parlaying that into a much bigger payday than if he’d stuck around MLB. The lockout probably made the decision a no-brainer vs something we probably would have weighed a bit more under normal circumstances.
@baseballpun & @JohhnyBets67, agreed, I get players wanting a guaranteed paycheck vs waiting out the lockout, but in this case, I also think Gant would have found a job. Teams needing a 6th or 7th starter to offset injuries, Phillies, Angels, Rangers, Yankees etc. etc, or a weak team needing a 4th or 5th like the Orioles.
I guess it depends on the money to some extent, and the role. I think he wants to be a starter, and I would imagine that’s what he’ll do in Japan, But I agree, I think he’s an ideal depth guy, who can produce out of the pen and step in capably at the back end of a rotation when you have injuries. He might not want to do that, though.
Grant will drive a team and fans crazy with his stretches of wildness. His inability to throw strikes at times made you curse at the TV and hope to never see him again. Maybe he can work on that in Japan.
Oh, I’m a Cards fan. I know. But if he were more consistent he’d just be a 4th or 5th starter and not a swing man.
I do think that swing-man role is important and it’s a tough one to fill, because it’s somebody who isn’t SO valuable as either a starter or reliever that they’re being used in the rotation or in the 8th/9th inning, but who’s still effective enough to contribute wherever you need innings.
He might very well start to figure it out a little bit more in Japan and come back and lock down a rotation spot somewhere, but he would seem to have value to a number of teams now, which is why the jump is a little surprising (or would be, if not for the lockout).
I meant that comment as a joke about my beloved orioles too.
But in all seriousness if John Gant signed with the Orioles today—he could potentially be the #2 starter.
It’s John Means then nothing.
Jordan Lyles
Bruce Zimmermann
Keegan Akin
Alex Wells
Dean Kremer
Zac Lowther
Not hard to say that Gant would be the #2.
Who is John Gant?
Ron’s long-lost nephew.
I was about to make the same joke
At last I shrugged when you asked that question
It seems like there’s quite a scramble out of here by the borderline players. I would think there’s a limited amount of spots available. We may run out of stories of this ilk before the lockout ends.
Best team name in sports.
How big are the rosters over there?
Sheeeesh!
Don’t see how the Mets werent in on him before the lockout. I mean we had Luchessi, Robert Stock, and Jackofff pitching meaningful games for us last year. Why not get Gant for depth….
I still believe the Twins were foolish to let him go.
No kidding! He was decent.
They must have a bigger strike zone in Japan.
Oh Gant could’ve found work in MLB for sure. So either he’s getting pretty good coin or this is a signal that the lockout might be a little longer than people expect.
The more I think about ham, the more hungry I get. Wait, I mean, the more I think about it, I don’t think the season will start on time or potentially will be cancelled. The players signed a horrible deal last time. i.e. Mr Burns offering a dental plan or a keg of beer. I don’t think either side will cave in.
I’m going to start panicking if I ever read that an “everyday Major Leaguer” signs to play overseas. That will mean that ST, and then Opening Day, won’t start on time. Lot of em signing to play over there, but nobody surprising so far. Maybe a rush of signings to play overseas like this happens every offseason and I just hadn’t noticed?
The way Gant pitched sometimes last season the team he plays on should be called the Ham Fisteds, not the Ham Fighters.
ham-fisted, an informal ADJECTIVE -clumsy or bungling; ham-handed, as in “a ham-fisted attempt”
synonyms:: clumsy · bungling · incompetent · amateurish · inept · unskillful · inexpert · maladroit · gauche · awkward · inefficient · bumbling · useless · unhandy · all thumbs · all fingers and thumbs · ham-handed
I would not recommend Gant over either VerHagen or Erlin
What the? There must be something going on with his arm. This dude has had solid mlb success. Pitchers go over seas bc they either haven’t got their chance or they have stunk in a short time. This has guy been neither. Maybe the lock out? Maybe he wants to live like a long haired God for a year.
Guaranteed cash and ham for Gant. Prolly trying to parlay a good year over there for a 2 or 3 year deal in MLB. He wasn’t gonna land much here.
MISSED IT BY THAT [ = ] MUCH !!
According to informed sources, The Marlins were in on John Gant right up until he signed the deal to join the Ham Fighters.. The Marlins made a “strong” offer, but not one that matched the Ham Fighters’ financial commitment. The Marlins weren’t the only team to be outbid.
The Minnesota Twins had also been linked to Gant.