Giants President and CEO Larry Baer sat down with Alex Pavlovic to breakdown why the team decided to “fill needs” rather than chase a big-name free agent, but they are always anticipating an opportunity.
The contract the Giants gave Johnny Cueto might ultimately go down as the largest the franchise ever hands to a starting pitcher, but at the time, it felt absolutely necessary.
The Giants won the 2014 title with Madison Bumgarner carrying nearly the entire workload for the rotation, and the next season wasn't much better. Bumgarner and rookie Chris Heston were the only pitchers to throw more than 140 innings, and 60 percent of the 2015 rotation was at least 34 years old. After missing the playoffs, the Giants knew exactly what they needed.
"Bochy said get me another 200-inning starter and I'm good," team president and CEO Larry Baer said that offseason.
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SIGN UP HERE The Giants doubled down, spending about a quarter of a billion dollars on Cueto and Jeff Samardzija. Ultimately, neither contract worked out as hoped, but Bochy was technically right. The two lived up to the hype that first year, particularly Cueto, who posted a 2.79 ERA in 219 innings and started the All-Star Game.
That was the high point of the Cueto era, which lasted the full six seasons of a $130 million deal. The rest of that contract didn't go as planned, in large part because Cueto's elbow acted up and he underwent Tommy John surgery. Cueto was never the same after that procedure, and he's no longer a Giant.
On Monday, he reached a minor league deal with the Chicago White Sox, who are in need of pitching depth. Cueto will reportedly get a prorated portion of a $4.2 million salary.
Cueto's contract in San Francisco inched past Barry Zito's in terms of overall money, and there are some similarities. Zito, however, got a full chance to make his mark in the 2012 postseason, which led Brian Sabean to once say that the entire deal was worth it because it led to a championship. Had one inning gone differently, we might view Cueto's deal the same way.
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He was one of the best starters in baseball in his first season in orange and black, finishing sixth in Cy Young Award voting and edging Bumgarner for the All-Star start after throwing four complete games in the first half. In Game 1 of the 2016 NLDS, Cueto was brilliant. He struck out 10 in eight innings and allowed just three hits, but one of them was a Javier Baez blast that landed in the basket atop the Wrigley Field outfield wall, just inches away from Angel Pagan's glove.
Cueto never got a second shot at the Cubs. The Giants blew it in the ninth inning in Game 4, keeping Cueto from starting Game 5 back in Chicago. It was a possibility that the Cubs, who went on to win that World Series, feared. Joe Maddon, then the Cubs manager, later called the Game 4 win the most important one of the postseason. He knew the Giants had Cueto and Bumgarner lined up to team up for the next nine innings.
"We did not want to see Game 5," he said that winter. "I thought facing Cueto in Game 5 would be the most difficult thing we had to do. I thought it was necessary that we won Game 4 in San Francisco to progress as well as we did. I was more focused on that win than anything else."
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Cueto wouldn't get another start on the big stage. The Giants lost 98 games the following season and his elbow started aching in 2018. By the time the team got back into contention, Cueto was a fifth starter, and he was left off the postseason roster last October.
Cueto finished his Giants career with a 3.81 ERA and 39 wins in 104 appearances. When healthy, he gave the Giants what they hoped, and he certainly over-delivered in the entertainment department.
The shimmies, quick-pitches, baserunning and more brought laughter and smiles to some down years in San Francisco. It was a solid run, but it was one that was missing a signature postseason moment, through little fault of his own.