Brebbia moves on, signs deal with Giants

John Brebbia might have been able to return to the Cardinals organization next season on a Minor League deal, but it only took the reliever a few weeks to find a Major League deal with a new team.

The Giants signed Brebbia to a one-year, Major League contract Monday, the team announced. The 30-year-old is recovering from Tommy John surgery that he had in June and began his throwing program the first week of December, putting him on a return schedule of 10 to 12 months after his surgery.

The Cardinals did not tender Brebbia a contract for 2021, declining to have his salary set by arbitration and electing instead to allow him to become a free agent. Their decision was not a financial one -- Brebbia reportedly signed with the Giants for $800,000 -- but rather a roster flexibility move. They didn’t want to commit a spot on the 40-man roster to a pitcher who could spend almost half of the season rehabilitating his elbow.

But the Cardinals were interested in bringing Brebbia back on a Minor League deal if he didn’t find a more appealing offer elsewhere. The Giants took advantage, and with it they can also maintain control through 2023, as Brebbia has two arbitration seasons left after 2021.

Brebbia made his Major League debut with the Cardinals in 2017 after the club signed him out of independent ball, where he reestablished himself, and became a reliable reliever for the club over the past three seasons. In 161 games, Brebbia had a 3.14 ERA and 198 strikeouts in 175 innings.

In 2019, Brebbia emerged as a setup reliever for the Cardinals toward the end of the season. With a fastball/slider combo, his 10.8 strikeouts-per-nine-innings and 3.34 strikeout-to-walk ratio made him an appealing closer candidate throughout Spring Training this past season.

Brebbia felt discomfort in his right elbow the day before Spring Training was canceled due to the pandemic. He had a platelet-rich injection, but when he began throwing afterward, the discomfort lingered. His surgery was performed June 1 while baseball was on pause.

Losing Brebbia doesn’t alter the Cardinals' bullpen structure much because he didn’t pitch in 2020. St. Louis will still have Giovanny Gallegos, John Gant, Andrew Miller and Génesis Cabrera in the back of the bullpen, and Jordan Hicks, who has recovered from his Tommy John surgery, could also be back in the closer’s role at some point in 2021. But the Giants are now getting a strong, experienced and controllable reliever who seems poised to contribute to the bullpen in the second half of next season if his recovery continues smoothly.