SF Giants: Versatile Arm Signs to Minor-League Deal

The SF Giants continued to add pitching depth on Tuesday by signing a versatile arm to a minor-league pact.

Chris Cotillo of MassLive.Com confirmed that the SF Giants have signed right-handed hurler Nick Tropeano to a minor-league contract. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle added that the deal includes an invite to Spring Training as well as a $1.1 million base salary with incentives to bring the total package up to $2 million if he makes the club.

SF Giants signed Nick Tropeano to MiLB deal

Tropeano was originally drafted by the Houston Astros in the fifth round of the 2011 draft out of the State University of New York at Stony Brook. However, his Astros career was short-lived as he was shipped to the Los Angeles Angels along with Carlos Perez in exchange for catcher Hank Conger in November of 2014.

He played with the Angels from 2015-2019 and became a free agent after a distatrous 2019 season in which he posted a 9.88 ERA across a small sample of 13.2 innings. Tropeano began the 2020 season with the New York Yankees, but was placed on waivers and claimed by the Pittsburgh Pirates before ever throwing a pitch for New York.

Albeit in a small sample, the 2020 campaign was a breakout season for the righty. In seven appearances, the 30-year-old posted a 1.15 ERA, 2.55 FIP, 1.14 WHIP, and a stout 4.75 SO/W ratio in 15.2 frames out of the bullpen.

Interestingly, the Pirates placed him on waivers following the season, and he was claimed by the New York Mets before becoming a free agent.

In six seasons, the righty has registered a 4.29 ERA, 4.78 FIP, 1.37 WHIP, and a 2.33 SO.W ratio. He has battled command issues and is prone to the long ball, but he does have some experience and success as both a starter (4.38 ERA) and a reliever (3.55 ERA). The Giants are thin on pitchers with that type of experience and it gives them flexibility on how they could use Tropeano. That said, he does come with plenty of injury risk as well.

The Giants are likely to roll out a rotation consisting of Johnny Cueto, Logan Webb, Kevin Gausman, Alex Wood, and Anthony DeSclafani. However, if they wanted to give Webb more minor-league seasoning, then Tropeano could slot right into the rotation. On the other hand, if the Giants are content with the rotation, then he could serve as the long man out of the bullpen.

Pitchers and catcher report tomorrow, and the addition of Tropeano gives San Francisco an interesting, new dynamic to the camp battles taking place on the pitching side.