San Francisco Giants Bag Mark Melancon with Record Deal (For Now)

The Winter Meetings wasted no time in becoming interesting, as the San Francisco Giants agreed to a deal with free agent relief pitcher Mark Melancon.

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The San Francisco Giants needed to upgrade the bullpen. They needed to help the bullpen that blew an inordinate amount of ballgames in the regular season last year, and then let a three-run lead slip away in the ninth inning of game four in the NLDS. They did that.

Monday was the real first of MLB’s fabled Winter Meetings, and though it’s quite cold at the National Harbor just a half-hour away from Washington D.C., the action started off hot. Just hours after things got started, the Giants and free agent reliever Mark Melancon were said to be very close to a deal.

About an hour or so later, the deal was announced. Melancon became a record-setter, getting a $62 million contract from the Giants to become the highest paid relief in history. Of course, that record won’t last long, with Kenley Jansen and Aroldis Chapman still on the market.

With three veteran relief pitchers becoming free agents this offseason, the Giants had openings. Santiago Casilla and Sergio Romo split time as closer last season, but neither were under contract beyond last year. It looks more and more likely that neither will be back. Melancon immediately becomes the elder statesman in the Giants’ bullpen.

Melancon will turn 32 years old on March 28th, and has appeared in 444 games as a big leaguer. Of current Giants’ relievers, only George Kontos (31) and Cory Gearrin (30) are over 30 years old, and none have Melancon’s experience. Kontos is the closest, and he still only has 257 appearances.

After starting his career as a struggling journeyman, Melancon became a downright dominant closer in 2013. In the four years since, he has spent three full seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates, and split 2016 between the Pirates and the Washington Nationals. His numbers in those four years are ridiculous.