Around the Foghorn
FanSided

Former SF Giants pitcher opts out of Yankees deal to join NL West rival

Maybe the Giants will face him at some point this season.
ByNick San Miguel|
San Francisco Giants v Washington Nationals
San Francisco Giants v Washington Nationals | Rob Carr/GettyImages

Former SF Giants pitcher Anthony DeSclafani has opted out of his minor league contract with the New York Yankees and has joined the Arizona Diamondbacks on a major league deal to be a long reliever.

The situation is sort of similar to how Dom Smith joined the Giants. He too was on a minor league contract with the Yankees that had an opt-out clause and he exercised it and was picked up by San Francisco shortly thereafter.

Former SF Giants pitcher Anthony DeSclafani joins NL West rival

DeSclafani made five appearances with New York's Triple-A affiliate and had a 4.50 ERA. That was enough to get Arizona to take a chance on him as it makes sense as they have struggled with their pitching depth this season due to injuries.

He made his debut with the Diamondbacks last Sunday and gave up two earned runs in 2 and 1/3 innings of work. It was his first appearance in the big leagues since he pitched with the Giants back in 2023.

Giants fans will remember that DeSclafani was very solid for the Giants during their miraculous 2021 season. He had a resurgent year with a 13-7 record and a 3.17 ERA in 31 starts and 167 and 2/3 innings pitched.

After the season, the Giants decided to bring him back on a three-year contract which did not pan out at all. DeSclafani was injured for basically all of the 2022 season as he only made five starts. He came back in 2023 and looked strong initially but ended the year with a 4.88 ERA in 19 appearances.

After 2023, Farhan Zaidi swung a pretty remarkable trade with the Seattle Mariners that sent DeSclafani and Mitch Haniger to Seattle in exchange for Robbie Ray. Considering the fact that Ray is currently looking like the version of himself that won a Cy Young back in 2021, it was an amazing trade by Zaidi that he deserves a lot of credit for.

Shortly thereafter, Seattle dealt DeSclafani to the Minnesota Twins DeSclafani where he struggled to stay healthy as well and did not appear in a game with the Twins.

After a long road, he is now back in the big leagues with Arizona. It is nice to see him back pitching again and the Giants may even end up facing him at some point in 2025 assuming he can stay healthy and is still with the team.