The Giants brought back starting pitcher Derek Holland on a one-year deal on Monday, which could be the start of more additions to the pitching staff.
Well, the team did make a pitching hire on Tuesday, but in the baseball operations department: hiring Matt Daniels as their coordinator of pitching analysis.
But back to Holland ...
The 31-year-old boasted solid numbers in 2018, with a 3.57 ERA and 169 strikeouts in 171.1 innings with the orange and black. And it turns out the former Ranger also received interest this offseason from his previous team and the Reds.
Derek Holland told us on @MLBNetworkRadio that the #Rangers and #Reds pursued him before he returned to the #SFGiants on a 1-year deal. Holland said there was one point in the offseason when he thought he'd return to Texas. @MLB @MLBNetwork— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) January 15, 2019
The Reds made a few pitching moves this offseason including losing free agent Matt Harvey to the Angels. Pitcher Homer Bailey also said his farewells in a blockbuster trade with the Dodgers, so starting pitching was certainly on the team's to-do list. It's on every team's to-do list, but you get the point.
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NBC Sports Bay Area has learned the Rangers had interest in him in a possible reliever role, but bowed out in the end. Keeping him in the NL West would appear may be more beneficial to the lefty than the high-powered AL West anyway.
During the interview with MLB Network, Holland also took a few moments to talk about the man of the hour, or the man of the offseason, Madison Bumgarner.
Derek Holland on @SFGiants teammate Madison Bumgarner: "If I was trying to mold someone who's up and coming, I want them to see what he does. He's a special kind of guy . . . He's a Hall of Famer, I think, without a doubt." @MLBNetworkRadio @MLB @MLBNetwork— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) January 15, 2019
MadBum has been a constant in trade talks for the Giants, but at the moment Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi is keeping him around.
Holland must be pretty happy about that.
