The San Francisco Giants signed a former World Series Champion on Monday to a minor-league deal.
The Giants agreed to terms with right-handed pitcher Joe Ross. Ross, 29, joins San Francisco after spending his entire big-league career with the Washington Nationals. Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reported the news on Monday afternoon.
“The Giants signed RHP Joe Ross to a minor league deal with an invite to big league camp,” Pavlovic tweeted.
The Giants signed RHP Joe Ross to a minor league deal with an invite to big league camp. He's a Bay Area native.
— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) January 30, 2023
This is a homecoming for Ross, as Pavlovic notes. He was born and raised in Berkeley, California.
Across his big league career, Ross posted an ERA of 4.26 and a bWAR of 4.9. He is 26-28 lifetime with 403 strikeouts and 141 walks. In his second season in the league, Ross posted an ERA+ of 125 in 105 innings pitched with 93 strikeouts and 29 walks, in what’s surely his best season to date.
The Giants are taking a chance on Ross with the minor-league deal. Last season, he posted an ERA of 4.17 through 108 innings pitched. Granted, he pitched on a woefully bad Nationals team that dumped star Juan Soto out to San Diego. As he’s only 29 years old still, there might be some mileage left in him. San Francisco is hoping so in acquiring Ross.
Ross won the World Series in 2019 with the Nationals, as they defeated the Houston Astros. He had an unceremonious welcome to the World Series though. The Astros roughed him up in Game 5, but the Nats got the revenge in Game 7 later.