MLB Roundup 12/22: John Brebbia signs with the Giants

Giants sign John Brebbia

The Giants have been something of a popular team in this feature over the last few weeks, as they have targeted and signed a number of pitchers who could have been targets for the Red Sox. They got Kevin Gausman back when he accepted the qualifying offer. They signed Anthony Desclafani for their rotation. They grabbed Matt Wisler to shore up their bullpen. And now they’ve added another reliever who could have been an intriguing, cheap add to Boston’s bullpen. That would be John Brebbia, who went to San Francisco on Monday on a one-year deal worth $800,000.

Now, we won’t bury the lede here. Brebbia is not going to be a full-season acquisition, which makes the one-year part of this pretty interesting. The righty underwent Tommy John surgery last June and thus will not be ready until this summer, likely at some point in the second half. There’s risk to making this kind of signing, particularly for teams like San Francisco or Boston who would like to contend but certainly are not sure things to be factors late into the year. Typically, it would be that this kind of deal would be for two years.

As far as talent goes, though, Brebbia is a really intriguing signing, particularly considering how little he’ll make. Prior to this signing, he had spent his entire three-year major-league career with the Cardinals. Over 175 innings in those three years, he pitched to a 3.14 ERA (132 ERA+) with over 10 strikeouts per nine innings and fewer than three walks per nine. He’s been consistent year-to-year, and the Giants are banking on that coming back after he finishes his rehab. As for the Red Sox, they can find relievers who will be able to help all year, but it will be tough to find someone both as cheap as Brebbia ended up being and as consistent as he’s been.

Howie Kendrick retires

A long-time, future Hall of Very Good-er has retired, with Howie Kendrick announcing on Monday that he was hanging up the cleats. For a long time, Kendrick was one of the more underrated hitters in baseball, but he finally got his due at the very end of his career when he served as a World Series hero for the 2019 Nationals. He obviously is not a Hall of Famer, but Kendrick was a rock-solid bat for 15 years, retiring with a career 109 OPS+ and 34.7 bWAR. That’s a hell of a career.