Giants sign Matthew Boyd to one-year deal

The San Francisco Giants are adding some starting pitcher depth, which is always exciting. According to Jon Heyman, the Giants agreed to a one-year deal with left-handed pitcher Matthew Boyd. The deal pays Boyd $5.2 million, with an additional $2.3 million available in incentives.

Boyd’s run prevention has never been great — his 3.89 ERA last year is the only time in his seven-year career that it’s been below 4.39, and it sits at 4.96 for his career — but the advanced metrics have always seen him as a quality pitcher. He topped out at 3.2 fWAR in 2019, which followed two straight seasons in excess of 2.0. He’s always done well at limiting walks, and is a decent strikeout pitcher.

His weakness has always been home runs. Boyd allowed an MLB-worst 15 dingers in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, which followed an AL-worst 39 in 2019. It’s reasonable to think that playing half of his games at Oracle Park should really help him.

Boyd is currently injured after undergoing surgery in September, and he’s not expected to return until June. So the Giants don’t need to worry about roster space just yet.

The team has a set rotation of Logan Webb, Carlos Rodón, Alex Wood, Anthony DeSclafani, and Alex Cobb, but as the last few years have shown, every team needs a few extra starting pitchers (and Webb is the only one of those five who doesn’t have a history of injuries). With Boyd, Jakob Junis, Carlos Martínez, Sammy Long, Sean Hjelle, and Tyler Beede all around, the Giants should be in good position to fill any and all holes in the rotation.