San Francisco Giants Re-Sign Peavy to 2-Year Deal

Rejoice, fans! Baseball’s leader in cuss words and outbursts is returning to the orange and black!

Despite a terribly slow start to the offseason, the San Francisco Giants seemed to have opened their wallets and are starting to throw some money around.

On Friday, two days after a deal with Sergio Romo was reported, MLB Insider Ken Rosenthal reported that the Giants and right-handed starter Jake Peavy agreed to a two-year deal to bring Peavy back to the Bay. The former Cy Young Award-winner, known for his fiery passion and comedic outbursts on the mound, was a key member to the Giants’ World Series run in 2014 after being acquired ahead of the trade deadline from the Boston Red Sox.

After a nightmarish start with Boston, which saw Peavy go 1-9 with a 4.72 ERA, the air in the Bay breathed new life into the 33-year old. In his return to the National League, which included a reunion with his former manager Bruce Bochy, Peavy posted a 6-4 record with a 2.17 ERA and 1.042 WHIP. He also pitched well in his first two postseason starts, but imploded in the World Series, with a 12.79 ERA in two losses.

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The two-year contract is worth $24 million, but the deal is pretty heavily backloaded, as reported by Jerry Crasnick. The 2015 season is worth $7 million, and 2016 will be worth $13 million. There is also a signing bonus worth $4 million, which Peavy will receive up front, making 2015 worth around $11 million, in actuality. The deal also includes a full no-trade clause.

Plain and simple, the Giants most likely don’t make the postseason in 2014 without Peavy. His veteran leadership, passion, and great pitching down the stretch were a huge boost to a team that was struggling to stay afloat.

This deal gives the Giants five starters, effectively filling out their rotation, along with Madison Bumgarner, Matt Cain, Tim Hudson, and Tim Lincecum. Despite that, Giants’ Assistant General Manager Bobby Evans stated on KNBR that the Peavy deal will not stop them from attempting to sign another rotation arm.

They are still “all-in” on James Shields, and the Peavy contract still leaves enough room for a deal to be struck with Shields. While the Giants have been linked in some circles to Max Scherzer, Peavy’s contract may not leave room for him. The team also is reluctant to get into a long, drawn-out bidding-war again after the Jon Lester-debacle.

The Giants took a long time to get started, but with two deals in three days, it looks like they’ve loosened their ties, taken a breath,  and gotten down to business.