Evaluating what Cueto gave Giants during six-year contract originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
The contract the Giants gave Johnny Cueto might ultimately go down as the largest the franchise ever hands to a starting pitcher, but at the time, it felt absolutely necessary.
The Giants won the 2014 title with Madison Bumgarner carrying nearly the entire workload for the rotation, and the next season wasn’t much better. Bumgarner and rookie Chris Heston were the only pitchers to throw more than 140 innings, and 60 percent of the 2015 rotation was at least 34 years old. After missing the playoffs, the Giants knew exactly what they needed.
“Bochy said get me another 200-inning starter and I’m good,” team president and CEO Larry Baer said that offseason.
The Giants doubled down, spending about a quarter of a billion dollars on Cueto and Jeff Samardzija. Ultimately, neither contract worked out as hoped, but Bochy was technically right. The two lived up to the hype that first year, particularly Cueto, who posted a 2.79 ERA in 219 innings and started the All-Star Game.
That was the high point of the Cueto era, which lasted the full six seasons of a $130 million deal. The rest of that contract didn’t go as planned, in large part because Cueto’s elbow acted up and he underwent Tommy John surgery. Cueto was never the same after that procedure, and he’s no longer a Giant.
On Monday, he reached a minor league deal with the Chicago White Sox, who are in need of pitching depth. Cueto will…