Carlos Rodon is headed out west…
The 29-year-old Latino professional baseball play, an MLB All-Star left-hander, and the San Francisco Giants have agreed on a two-year, $44 million contract that includes an opt-out after the first season, according to ESPN sources.
Rodon set a career high for wins with the Chicago White Sox in 2021 in going 13-5 with a 2.37 ERA and made his first All-Star team. His 24 starts and 132⅔ innings are the most for him since 2016, well beyond his totals in the previous two years combined.
Rodon has a history of arm and shoulder injuries and threw just 28 innings over the final two months of the 2021 regular season. But he also played a big role as the White Sox ran away with the American League Central title at 93-69. They beat Cleveland by 13 games and finished with their highest win total since the 2005 World Series championship team went 99-63.
Rodon will help fill out a rotation alongside ace Logan Webb and lefty Alex Wood. The Giants lost right-hander Kevin Gausman to the Toronto Blue Jays earlier this offseason on a $110 million, five-year deal and declined righty Johnny Cueto‘s $22 million contract option.
Wood received a $25 million, two-year contract to stay with San Francisco, which won a franchise-record 107 games last season before losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Division Series.
Rodon, who was the third overall selection in the 2014 first-year player draft out of North Carolina State, has a career record of 42-38 with a 3.79 ERA and 710 strikeouts in 121 games.