What appeared to be increasingly imminent with every Giants move and each morsel of information to emerge this offseason came to fruition Thursday evening: Carlos Rodón will, indeed, go down as a one-season wonder in San Francisco.
The overpowering left-hander, who opted out of the two-year deal he signed with the Giants before last season, found the long-term security he was seeking. Rodón is reportedly in agreement with the Yankees on a six-year, $162 million deal, the longest and second-largest contract signed by a pitcher this offseason. The deal, which was first reported by the New York Post’s Jon Heyman, has not yet been made official.
The Giants, under Farhan Zaidi, have historically balked at such deals. They have preferred to find reclamation project pitchers on short-term deals, as they have this offseason with Sean Manaea and Ross Stripling, and as they did just last year with Rodón after letting his predecessor, Kevin Gausman, walk on a five-year deal.
With the move, the Yankees became the only team to commit more dollars this offseason than the Giants, who made their big splash Tuesday night, agreeing to a 13-year, $350 million deal with Carlos Correa. While only Bryce Harper has signed a free-agent deal as long as Correa’s, the Giants have still not committed more than three years to a pitcher under Zaidi.
Rodón’s single season in San Francisco couldn’t have worked out better for either side.
Rodón proved his breakout 2021 season was no fluke and that any health issues were behind him, setting career highs in innings and games started. Although he received Cy Young votes in 2021, the only deal available to him after the lockout last spring were short-term ones. He chose the Giants, earned an All-Star nod, received Cy Young votes again, and was rewarded with one of the largest contracts ever signed by a pitcher.
From the get-go, Rodón exceeded even the Giants’ grandest dreams.
In his first start in a Giants uniform, he struck out 12 over five electric innings, and he would go on to record more double-digit strikeout games than any pitcher in franchise history. While he was consistently brilliant, no effort was more impressive than his complete game in San Diego on July 9 (the only one of the season by a Giants pitcher); they had lost seven straight games, and Rodón single-handedly pitched them to victory, while fanning another dozen Padres along the way.
He chased Milwaukee’s Corbin Burnes until the end for the National League strikeout crown but settled for the league leads in K/9 and FIP. It wasn’t only one of the most dominant seasons by a Giants newcomer, or a left-hander, but any pitcher in the franchise’s history.
As manager Gabe Kapler said toward the end of the year, “It feels very much like a historic season.”
The task of filling Rodón’s slot in the rotation may already be complete with the additions of Manaea and Stripling, but filling his shoes will be a challenge the Giants face all season.
Logan Webb, their 25-year-old homegrown ace, entrenched himself last year as one of the game’s top pitchers, but it will be his first season without a partner like Rodón or Gausman with him at the top of the rotation. Instead, some combination of Alex Cobb, Alex Wood, Anthony DeSclafani, Stripling and Manaea will follow.
With Rodón joining Aaron Judge in New York, there should be no shortage of storylines for the first series of the season, when the Carlos Correa-led Giants travel to Yankees Stadium.
