© Brian Fluharty | 2018 May 26
The Giants signed former Red Sox and A’s left-handed starting pitcher Drew Pomeranz on Wednesday afternoon. Pomeranz is expected to start the season in San Francisco’s rotation, according to VP of baseball ops Farhan Zaidi, despite a dismal, injury plagued season with the Sox in 2018.
Pomeranz spent time with Oakland while Zaidi was a member of the club’s front office in 2014. Giants broadcaster Mike Krukow sees that fact as a ringing endorsement of Pomeranz who is only two years removed from the All-Star game, and one year removed from winning 17 games.
“When you see a front office guy reacquire a player, that to me tells you everything you know about the guy,” Krukow said on Murph & Mac. “The guy’s a great guy, the guy’s a hard worker, the guy’s stellar. Especially a new general manager in a new city. He knows all about him and he couldn’t wait to get this guy. I think they’ve been negotiating this for awhile.”
For a player with such a high upside, the Giants appear to have taken advantage of a slow market, inking Pomeranz for a one-year deal worth $1.5 million.
“The current market has allowed the Giants an opportunity to get this guy. I think under normal circumstances this is a guy that’s going to get a 3-year deal for $12-14 million a year. Not happening this year. So it really has become very opportunistic for a lot of organizations, and I think Farhan took advantage of this. But I’m thrilled to get him in a Giants uniform because of all that he represents. Strike thrower, big curveball, tough, has something to prove. I love all those things, so I think it’s a great add.
With the addition of Pomeranz, the Giants could start the 2019 season with a least three lefties in the rotation.
“One thing we found out with this acquisition is (Zaidi) likes left-handed curveballs. If you think about what the Dodgers had last year on their staff with (Clayton) Kershaw, (Rich) Hill, (Alex) Wood, and (Julio) Urías, I mean those are really good left-handed curveballs.
“Pomeranz, Farhan had him in Oakland, so he knew all about him. He’s a three pitch guy basically, but with a lot of deception in the delivery of the fastball, he can spot the fastball up and down and still get swing throughs with it. Really another good curveball from almost a high 3/4 release so it’s got lots of tilt, and a guy with something to prove.
“I mean he had a great year two years ago, and then last year he had some problems in his elbow. Apparently, if you’re reading the same articles I am, he was saying he didn’t prepare like he normally did, he kind of took the advice of the Red Sox and saved himself until he got to spring training. When he got there he kind of felt like he was behind all year, and it kind of snowballed into some arm tenderness in his elbow, and he wound up kind of having an off year.
“So he’s coming back this year with something to prove, and I like that mentality.”
Listen to the full interview below. To hear Krukow on Pomeranz, start from the beginning.