The Giants have finally found the lefty to fill his rotation, and he is very familiar with his fan base.
Former All-Star Dodgers Alex Wood signed a $ 3 million one-year contract, the Giants announced Thursday night. Wood can earn an additional $ 3 million in performance bonuses.
The hiring of Wood, who defended Farhan Zaidi in Los Angeles, completes the rotation, although the Giants have said they are not opposed to increasing depth before spring training. They were looking for a southpaw to join the four righties and got one with a strong track record.
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Wood was an All-Star in 2017, going 16-3 for the Dodgers with an ERA of 2.72. He was part of Yasiel Puig’s deal with the Reds before the 2019 season, but he got hurt and had a bad year in Cincinnati before returning to Los Angeles last season. Wood mostly tossed out of the bullpen to the World Series champions when he came back from a shoulder inflammation, and although he had a difficult regular season, he looked like he did in October.
Wood made four shows of relief in the race for the title, allowing only one run in 6 2/3 innings. He threw two big entries into the World Series clincher, eliminating three by bridging the last few entries when Julio Urias eliminated the Rays.
Wood joins Kevin Gausman, Johnny Cueto, Anthony Desclafani and Logan Webb in the rotation, with the Giants also having Tyler Beede returning from Tommy John’s surgery earlier in the season. The Giants were looking for a southpaw after Drew Smyly signed with Braves in November.
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A year after Smyly signed for $ 4 million, the Giants made a similar deal with Wood, who has performance bonuses based on the length of his performances. Wood can earn an additional $ 125,000 when he reaches 12 and 14 performances with 10 or more registered outs. There are five additional checkpoints worth $ 250,000 each, and if Wood reaches 26, 28 or 30 appearances with more than 10 outs, he will receive an additional $ 500,000 each time. Essentially, if Wood stays on the rotation all year, it will be a $ 6 million deal.