Santiago Casilla is headed back to his original MLB team, the Oakland A’s, though fans in Oakland may remember him better as Jairo Garcia. On Wednesday, the veteran relief pitcher agreed to a two-year, $11 million deal with the A’s. He can also earn up to $3 million in performance bonuses.
Source: Santiago Casilla deal with A’s is done. Two-year deal for $11 million. He can make up to $3 million more in performance bonuses.
— Jesse Sanchez (@JesseSanchezMLB) January 12, 2017
Santiago Casilla can earn $1.5 million for games finished in 2017 and $1.5 million for games finished in 2018, The Chronicle has learned.
— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) January 12, 2017
Santiago Casilla Returns to Oakland on Two-Year Deal
Casilla, 36, previously pitched for Oakland from the 2004 season through the 2009 season. Starting in 2000, when he joined the organization, he pitched under the name Jairo Garcia. During Spring Training of the 2006 season, he revealed his true name, and that he was actual three years older than he said he was when he first signed.
The righty struggled for much of his first stint with the A’s. He saw three full seasons with the big league club, and posted ERAs of 4.44, 3.93, and 5.96. In 2010, he moved across the bay to the San Francisco Giants, and immediately turned his career around. Though his strikeout and walk numbers didn’t change much, if at all, he started allowing fewer hits. He benefited immensely from superior defense behind him in San Francisco, as his opponents’ BABIP against him dropped precipitously. He also began inducing ground balls at a much higher rate than he did with Oakland.
As a result, Casilla finished six of his seven years in San Francisco with sub-3.00 ERAs, and finished three seasons with ERAs under 2.00. His best campaign came in 2014, when he pitched to a 1.70 ERA and a 0.86 WHIP in 54 games. He also saved 19 games that year, and went on to save 69 games over the following two seasons. His ERA rose from 2.79 in 2015 to 3.57 in 2016, but he still set a career-high of 65 strikeouts (in 58 innings) on the year. Casilla should be an asset to the Oakland bullpen in 2017.
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