The Giants made an interesting move this week, picking up former All-Star reliever Trevor Rosenthal.
Rosenthal signed with the Oakland A’s last year, but hasn’t played a game since 2020 due to thoracic outlet syndrome, a tricky shoulder injury that has affected pitchers, like Matt Harvey and Phil Hughes.
But Rosenthal is nearing a return, and the Giants gave him an incentive-heavy, one-year (prorated) $4.5 million deal. He’s currently ramping up as he works back from a hamstring injury.
The incentives in his deal are as follows:
$1 million in performance bonuses for games pitched at the Major League level in 2022:
- $50,000 each for 15 and 18 games pitched
- $150,000 for 23 games pitched
- $200,000 for 28 games pitched
- $250,000 for 33 games pitched
- $300,000 for 38 games pitched
He can also earn an additional $1 million in performance bonuses for games finished at the Major League level in 2022
- $100,000 for 12 games finished
- $150,000 for 15 games finished
- $250,000 each for 18, 21 and 24 games finished.
Susan Slusser joined KNBR on Friday to discuss the signing and explained why she’s a fan of it. The incentives, she pointed out, are mostly unlikely to be achieved, given that there’s roughly two months left.
But Rosenthal’s upside is substantial. He has a career 3.36 ERA and staggering 12.1 K/9 rate.
“I like it. Hey, look, we know the Giants have lots of resources. This is kind of a can’t-lose situation,” Slusser said. “… this is a guy who, when he is healthy, is just an elite closer, and I talked to him yesterday and he’s throwing in 97, 98 [MPH]. His command looks absolutely perfect. I saw one of his recent heat maps from one of his bullpen sessions and he was dotting the strike zone. So this might be a really crazy great addition late in the season to the unit they really needed the most.”
Slusser expressed surprise at the fact that the Giants let go of the struggling Jake McGee because of his postseason experience. But Rosenthal fills that voice.
“Jake McGee, I’m a little surprised they let him go. And one of the reasons I was a little surprised they let them go with all that experience he has in the postseason,” Slusser said. “Well, now they got Trevor Rosenthal, who’s a decorated postseason reliever.”
While there’s a minimum of 15 days before Rosenthal can take the mound for the Giants, Slusser said it should be close to that 15-day mark that he’s activated, assuming his rehab work goes well.
Listen to the full interview below. You can listen to every KNBR interview on our podcast page at knbr.com/podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.
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