Giants sign Tony Watson

 Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

The San Francisco Giants still needed to upgrade their bullpen, but they were dancing along the line of the luxury tax that the team has been trying to avoid all during the off-season so you could wonder just what the team planned on doing other than some low-risk reclamation projects on a  minor league contract to attempt to grab lightning in a bottle.

The Giants have either pulled a rabbit out of a hat, decided that they weren't going to worry about paying the tax or have a move in mind to save some money, but no matter how things turn out of the options above, the signing of left-handed reliever Tony Watson comes as a surprise.
The need for a southpaw from the pen was huge as the team lacked a proven lefty to start the season as Will Smith is expected to miss the few month or two as the only proven choice for the top lefthander's position and with so little money to spend, the Giants didn't seem to be in a situation to improve the roster.
The acquisition of Watson bumps younger lefties Josh Osich and Steven Okert each down a notch in the bullpen and might mean an Osich vs Okert battle for the left-handed long man roster spot with the other returning to AAA Sacramento.

The 32 (Turns 33 in May) year old Watson had spent his entire career in Pittsburgh as the top lefthander out of the Pittsburgh pen before moving into the role of the closer in 2016 after the Nationals traded for the then-closer for the Pirates in Mark Melancon.
Watson pitched well in 47 games with Pittsburgh (10 saves), but was moved out of the closer's role in favor of a harder throwing lefthander in Felipe Rivero before finishing the year in Los Angeles after being traded at the deadline with a strong  2.66 ERA in 24 Dodger appearances.
Watson will more than likely be the setup man and gives the Giants a viable choice as a closer in the event that Mark Melancon's injuries keep him from regaining his past form.
Watson keeps the ball down and usually employs a sinker and slider as his go-to pitches with a changeup occasionally worked into the mix as well.

The addition of Tony Watson fills a void on the roster and should be a bullpen upgrade for now.
The team hasn't officially announced the deal, but it is reported to be a multiple year agreement and it'll be interesting to see the financial terms and then make some educated guesses on what happens next.
When you consider the extremely cold market for most free agents with camps for pitchers and catchers beginning to open, I am more interested in usual in seeing just how much money Watson's deal is worth and did he move quickly before the market really dipped as spring training gave teams more and more leverage over the remaining free agents?

Hopefully, I'll be back later this afternoon with a review of last night's vacant WBO lightweight title fight between Ray Beltran vs Paulus Moses, but if not I'll be around later tonight with more from the boxing weekend.