The Giants have made the first major free-agent signing after the lockout, signing former White Sox starting pitcher Carlos Rodón to a two-year contract worth $44 million according to ESPN's Jeff Passan.
The deal also includes an opt-out after the first season.
Rodón, 29, is coming off an outstanding 2021 season with the White Sox. The hard-throwing lefty put up an impressive 2.37 ERA, 0.96 WHIP and struck out 185 hitters in 132.2 innings. That came after Rodón was non-tendered by Chicago following the 2020 season. He eventually returned to the White Sox, agreeing to a one-year deal worth $3 million. Now, he's guaranteed $20 million+ for 2022 in San Francisco.
Yet, despite the good numbers in 2021, Rodón did have another season in which he dealt with an injury. He was shut down for almost three weeks in August to rest his pitching arm and although he returned to finish the season and pitch in the divisional round questions remained about his durability. In seven seasons with the White Sox Rodón's career high in innings pitched was back in 2016, when he tossed 165 innings. Since then he's dealt with various injuries, the biggest being when he underwent elbow surgery in 2019. Yet, he's always pitched well and showed that bulldog mentality after returning from Tommy John surgery.
Rodón has a career 3.79 ERA and 1.30 WHIP in 121 total MLB appearances that include 116 as a starter. So, Rodón gets a big payday and he also gets to bet on himself to possibly get an even bigger contract with the opt-out included in his contract after 2022 with the Giants. If Rodón does stay healthy in 2022 there's a good chance that he'll then be in line for a 4-5 year deal next offseason, when he'll be 30-years-old. As for the Giants, boy have they been aggressive to keep a veteran pitching staff intact. The Rodón deal comes after San Francisco had already signed Anthony DeSclafani, Alex Cobb and Alex Wood prior to the lockout.
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