Watson all in on SF's 'Let the Old Guys Play'

SAN FRANCISCO -- Tony Watson was out to lunch with his family on Friday afternoon when he received a phone call from Angels general manager Perry Minasian shortly after 1 p.m. PT.

Minasian called to inform Watson that the Angels had made a trade. Watson hadn’t really been paying attention to the flurry of activity, so he figured one of his Angels teammates -- Raisel Iglesias, Andrew Heaney or Alex Cobb -- was probably on the move. He was stunned to learn that he had actually been dealt.

“We’re moving you to San Francisco,” Minasian told Watson.

An awkward silence ensued as Watson took a second to process the news, but he quickly warmed to the idea of reuniting with the Giants, the team he pitched for from 2018-20.

“I said, ‘Wow, that’s great,’” Watson recalled. “I started thinking about the standings and the playoff push and the relationships that we built. The family was really excited. I was really excited. I went up and packed my stuff and tried to get here as fast as I could.”

Watson made the short flight up to the Bay Area to join the Giants ahead of Saturday afternoon’s game against the Astros. He joins a San Francisco bullpen that already features three lefty relievers in José Álvarez, Jarlín García and Jake McGee, but president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said he valued the postseason experience and leadership that Watson could bring to the club.

Watson recorded a 4.64 ERA over 36 appearances with the Angels this year, but Zaidi said the Giants had seen his stuff tick up in recent weeks.

“Last year, he had a great season for us even though the pure stuff maybe wasn’t where it’d been in the past,” Zaidi said Friday. “He wasn’t 100% physically and still did a great job for us. The last couple of weeks, he’s been feeling good and we’ve been watching his velocity creep up to the 92-94 [mph] range, which is a really great sign for him, because even at one or two ticks below that, you’d be a really effective reliever. He’s got plus velocity to go along with that changeup. The command he has, he can get big outs for you down the stretch.”

At 36, Watson is now the oldest player on the Giants’ veteran roster and joked that he’ll have to get his hands on one of the club’s “Let the Old Guys Play” T-shirts.

“I need one, because I’m definitely the old guy,” Watson said. “Maybe it’s hanging in my locker and I haven’t seen it. … That just tells me they have a lot of good chemistry going on. They’re having fun and doing a lot of great things here.”

To clear a spot on the 26-man roster for Watson, the Giants optioned rookie Sammy Long to Triple-A Sacramento. Manager Gabe Kapler said Long will be stretched out in the Minors, giving San Francisco more starting depth in case it needs rotation help in the weeks to come. The Giants are expecting to place Kevin Gausman on paternity leave at some point in the near future, but they also want to have some coverage in the event of other unforeseen developments.

“I think it’s going to be good for us to have some options that can start a game for us in a pinch,” Kapler said. “Obviously, we’re always thinking about Gaus and the possibility that the baby comes. We want to be prepared for that moment, if it catches any of us off-guard. More than anything else, we want to have options in case we need someone to make a spot start.”