SF Giants: Pair of veteran hurlers elect free agency

Free agency has not officially begun but the landscape is beginning to take shape as a pair of veteran hurlers elected free agency. José Quintana and Jake Jewell finished the season in the SF Giants organization but they hit the open market according to the minor league transactions page.

SF Giants: Pair of veteran hurlers elect free agency

Quintana and Jewell join Reyes Moronta and Mike Tauchman as recent members of the Giants organization to choose free agency. Of course, this is a procedural move for the two pitchers as they have over six years of professional experience.

Quintana joined the Giants at the end of August as a waiver claim from the Los Angeles Angels. In claiming the left-handed hurler, the Giants were on the hook for the remainder of Quintana's $8 million salary for 2021.

The veteran southpaw struggled in his time with the Angels, posting a 6.75 ERA in 24 appearances before joining San Francisco. Johnny Cueto hit the injured list around the same time, so the Giants likely made this move in response to the Cueto injury.

In total, Quintana appeared in five games with the Giants where he yielded five earned runs on eight hits with 12 strikeouts against six walks. He struggled mightily with command and he was too prone to the long ball as he allowed three home runs in his brief audition.

The Giants designated him for assignment prior to the end of the season. Not surprisingly, he cleared waivers but he accepted a minor league assignment. He did not make an appearance with the Giants' Triple-A affiliate, but he he was a part of the taxi squad during the NLDS.

On the other hand, Jake Jewell reaches free agency with far less experience. The right-handed hurler was claimed off of waivers from the Los Angeles Dodgers at the beginning of September. He was there to serve as depth in case of an emergency.

However, that emergency never arose as Jewell was outrighted off of the 40-man roster shortly after the waiver claim. The 28-year-old made 10 appearances with the Cubs earlier in the season where he recorded a 9.90 ERA across 10 frames before hitting the waiver wire. The Dodgers placed a claim on him at the end of August before joining the San Francisco.

Interestingly, this was Jewell's second stint with the Giants organization. He was scooped up off of waivers from the Los Angeles Angels in January of 2020, but he did not remain on the 40-man roster for long.

Both Quintana and Jewell were late-season additions at a time when the Giants were running extremely thin on pitching depth. Quintana soaked up a few innings, whereas Jewell finished the season with the Sacramento River Cats. They will likely look for opportunities to pitch elsewhere next season.