The Giants started Monday, Nov. 22 with one starter in the rotation in Logan Webb. At 3:23 in the afternoon, they have three trusted arms.
In the second of seemingly consecutive transactions, the Giants re-signed Alex Wood to a two-year, $20 million deal, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan. The move was reported minutes after the Giants announced they’d re-signed Anthony DeSclafani to a three-year pact.
It doesn’t appear the Wood deal is finalized. Speaking to reporters about the DeSclafani agreement, president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi declined to comment on pitchers connected to San Francisco in “rumors” — that included Wood.
“I won’t comment on anyone specifically,” Zaidi said. “But I will say — we’ve talked about this a lot over the last few years — we’re not shopping for a five-man rotation. We’re shopping for 162 games started. That can take on different forms. But I imagine that even after this (DeSclafani) signing, we’ll continue to be active in that space.”
DeSclafani and Wood both had tremendous seasons on one-year “prove-it” deals for San Francisco in 2021.
Wood, 30, went 10-4 with a 3.83 ERA during SF’s 107-win campaign. After coming out of the bullpen part-time for the Dodgers, Wood enjoyed a permeant spot in the rotation; all 26 of his appearances were starts.
Wood built a reputation as a reliable “stopper.” In games Wood started immediately following a Giants loss, SF went 14-1 — including Game 3 of the NLDS in which Wood went toe-to-toe with Max Scherzer.
Even with Wood, DeSclafani and Webb, the Giants are still expected to add more starting pitching. And with money to spend, they could still target the biggest names on the free agency market, which includes Scherzer, Clayton Kershaw, Robbie Ray, Kevin Gausman and Marcus Stroman.
This story has been updated with additional information
