Report: Manaea, Giants agree to two-year, $25M contract originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
To fill their rotation, the Giants have reportedly turned to a very familiar face.
The New York Post’s Jon Heyman reported Sunday night that longtime Oakland Athletics ace Sean Manaea reportedly has agreed to a two-year contract with the Giants. According to Heyman, the deal is for two years, $25 million and includes an opt-out after the first season, which would make it similar to the Carlos Rodón contract from this past season.
Manaea, 30, spent his first six seasons in Oakland before getting traded to the Padres at the end of last spring. He had a 4.96 ERA and 4.53 FIP in San Diego, but as they have done so often in recent years, the Giants are going to bet on their pitching and analytics staff to get the most out of a veteran starter. Overall, the lefty has a 4.06 ERA in the big leagues.
Manaea will need to hit new heights, because his addition likely signals that the Giants are out of the Rodón market. They had not expected a reunion with Rodón, who is seeking a six- or seven-year deal back, and at the MLB Winter Meetings last week, president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said he felt his team would be looking for just one starter this offseason.
Zaidi pointed out that one of the challenges right now is that every pitcher out there wants assurance he’ll be in the rotation at the start of the season and likely all of it. Manaea, a starter throughout his big league career, joins a staff that already includes Logan Webb, Alex Cobb, Alex Wood and Anthony DeSclafani. The Giants are confident in DeSclafani’s rehab from ankle surgery, so barring a surprise over the next couple of months, they likely are done searching for established starters.
Asked last week about the rotation opening, Zaidi said the Giants wanted to “add somebody with as high of a ceiling as possible” and pointed out that the front office had more glaring needs to fill. Thus far, the Giants have brought back Joc Pederson, signed Mitch Haniger, and now, apparently, filled out their rotation.
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They remain in search of help up the middle, with Carlos Correa as the best option available. Giants starters led the Majors in FIP last year but got crushed by poor defense, so their emphasis this offseason has been on fixing that issue for the holdovers and whichever pitcher was added.
They were in on several who have already signed short-term deals, but on Sunday, they appear to have finally found the right fit.
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