Ryan Vogelsong‘s performance regressed in his past two years with the San Francisco Giants, but that didn’t stop the reigning World Series champions from bringing the veteran starting pitcher back on a one-year deal.
Alex Pavlovic of the San Jose Mercury News reported the deal is official:
Jon Heyman of CBS Sports first confirmed the news Friday, Jan. 23, after the initial reports from the San Francisco Chronicle‘s Henry Schulman:
Schulman also added financial details:
Vogelsong, 37, will likely see his velocity decrease as the end of his career approaches, but he relies heavily on getting movement on his fastball. That should still allow him to remain effective as a back-end contributor to San Francisco’s staff.
A rocky 2013 campaign saw Vogelsong post a 5.73 ERA and go 4-6 after he’d won 27 games in the prior two seasons combined. Last season saw Vogelsong improve his WAR from minus-2.0 to 1.2, per ESPN.com, though he posted a meager 8-13 record.
San Francisco gets a seasoned veteran who also happens to have an outstanding postseason run on his resume. In the 2012 playoffs, Vogelsong went 3-0 with a stupendous 1.09 ERA, proving he could get the job done in the biggest moments.
While the Fall Classic may not be a realistic possibility for the Giants at the moment, it is the eventual goal and one that Vogelsong can help eventually achieve as a mentor for now to establish more of a winning culture.
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