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Sources told KNBR’s Larry Krueger that the San Francisco Giants will sign former Red Sox and Athletics left-handed pitcher Drew Pomeranz to a one-year contract on Wednesday. Confirmed by Ken Rosenthal, the deal is expected to become official later today and will be for $1.5 million with incentives that can up the contract to $5 million. With the Giants latest additions both being left-handed starting pitchers, how will Pomeranz fit into the Giants rotation?
Pomeranz gets $1.5M and can max out at $5M with incentives, per source. https://t.co/Qf7nKLFj3v
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 23, 2019
After the signing of Pomeranz, the Giants rotation will likely feature some combination of Madison Bumgarner, Dereck Rodriguez, Jeff Samardzija, Derek Holland, Drew Pomeranz, and Chris Stratton. With pitchers and catchers reporting in less than three weeks, the Giants will soon be able to evaluate their rotation options for 2019.
As Madison Bumgarner is expected to be with the team by the time spring training begins, it’s almost certain that the top of the rotation will feature some combination of Bumgarner, Rodriguez and Holland. If Jeff Samardzija is indeed healthy and ready to go, we can expect him to fill out a rotation spot early on.
With only one spot possibly available, Drew Pomeranz, Chris Stratton, Andrew Suarez and others will battle it out for the fifth slot. As has become clear this offseason, Farhan Zaidi a big fan of player flexibility, and we will likely see some, or all of those names, both starting and pitching out of the bullpen in 2019.
Depending on how the rest of the offseason plays out, there’s a very good chance that Pomeranz begins the season as the fifth starter in the Giants rotation.
Coming off a very rough season in 2018, Drew Pomeranz is a low-risk, high-reward acquisition that the Giants could use to flip at the trade deadline if he’s able to bounce back. Throughout his eight-year career in the majors, Pomeranz is no stranger to being traded. Drafted in 2010 by the Indians, he was traded to the Rockies the following year. In 2013 he was traded from the Rockies to the A’s, before being moved again from the A’s to the Padres in 2015. His All-Star season in 2016 began with the Padres before being traded to Boston to close out the season.
Having been traded four times already in his career, it’s possible we see Pomeranz on the move for a fifth time if he has a bounce-back season. This has been a common theme in all of Farhan Zaidi’s moves thus far, as he seems to be loading up on players who are both versatile and have the potential to be worth something at the deadline.
Battling injuries last season, Pomeranz spent time bouncing back and forth from the rotation to the bullpen in a season where he posted some of the worst numbers of his career. In 2017, Pomeranz pitched in over 170 innings, with a record of 17-6 and an ERA of 3.32. The previous year in 2016, Pomeranz was selected to his one and only All-Star game. Starting 2016 with the A’s before being traded to the Red Sox, Pomeranz finished the season with an 11-12 record over 170 innings pitched with a 3.32 ERA.