The San Francisco Giants have upgraded their pitching rotation. On December 5th, Jeff Samardzija agreed to come to San Francisco. Another pitcher also decided to sign with the Giants, right hander, Johnny Cueto. Earlier this week, Cueto agreed to a six-year $130 million contract, paying him $21.67 million per year. The deal has an opt-out for the second year and will be done once Cueto passes a physical.
Cueto has pitched in the Majors for eight years. He began his career with the Reds in 2008 appearing in 31 games. His record was 9 and 14 with an ERA of 4.81. He struck out 158 batters. Cueto’s career high in wins was in 2012 with 19 and he had an ERA of 2.78. Last season, he started out with the Reds until he was dealt to the Kansas City Royals. He assisted the Royals in winning the World Series. In the World Series run, he started 4 games going 2-1 with 19 strikeouts and an ERA of 5.35. In his whole career, Cueto is 96-70 with an ERA of 3.30 and 1,171 strikeouts.
Cueto was one of the last top starting pitchers left on the free-agent market. The Arizona Diamondbacks made an offer of a six-year 120 million contract. He rejected the offer and according to si.com, Cueto wanted to explore his option in free agency.
The Giants already had a respectable pitching rotation with Jeff Samardzija, Madison Bumgarner, Matt Cain, and Jake Peavy. All of them have the ability to win 15 games each year. Johnny Cueto gives them yet another veteran arm. Cueto will be able to strike batters out which should help the Giants win more games. That could be the difference in winning the National League West and possibly a run to the World Series. On paper, the Giants might have the best rotation in all of baseball. Other teams will need to watch out for the Giants because they don’t seem to have a weakness. The Giants might be one of the favorites to win the World Series with the addition of Johnny Cueto.
What do you think of the Giants adding Johnny Cueto?
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