Free Agent Decides He Doesn't Want to Relieve For Angels – Or Anyone

The Angels' pursuit of right-handed pitcher Jordan Hicks never appeared particularly serious. Aside from a couple reports from early in the Winter Meetings linking the two sides, the Angels always seemed to have higher priorities on their offseason shopping list. 

After those rumors came and went, the Angels signed three relief pitchers to major league contracts: Adam Cimber, Luis Garcia and Zach Plesac.

Friday, the unique free agent saga of Hicks reached an interesting conclusion. He signed a four-year, $44 million contract with the San Francisco Giants, as first reported by ESPN's Jeff Passan. 

The Giants already have a closer, Camilo Doval, who saved 39 games and made the National League All-Star team last year. That's fine by Hicks, who will convert full-time to starting pitching.

In retrospect, the Angels' pursuit of Hicks (or the lack thereof) makes sense. The Angels' needs are focused less on a back-end starter with the floor of a relief pitcher, and more on a front-end starter with the floor of a back-end starter.

Hicks started eight games in 2022 for the St. Louis Cardinals as an emergency fill-in, but his case to start on a full-time basis was not a slam dunk – even in a relatively weak free agent class.

Now, the Angels probably won't have to face Hicks in 2024. They are not scheduled to face the Giants outside of three games in San Francisco in June. 

Hicks is 11-21 with a 3.85 ERA in parts of five seasons with the Cardinals and Toronto Blue Jays. He remains one of the hardest-throwing arms in the game today. He has consistently thrown a 100-mph sinker when healthy, and he mixed in a triple-digit four-seamer in 2023 as well.

Now, Hicks' attempt to convert into full-time starting will be an interesting one to watch.