Former Blue Jay closer Ken Giles signs minor league deal with the Atlanta Braves

The Blue Jays acquired Giles, along with prospects, at the 2018 trade deadline for Roberto Osuna. In hindsight, this is a great trade, even if the Blue Jays made a sizeable mistake by not trading Giles at the 2019 deadline.

It’s been a rough couple of seasons for Giles. He spent all of 2023 in the Dodgers organization, pitching just 18 innings with a 9.50 ERA and a 6.51 FIP with their Triple-A team. The season before that, he pitched with the Seattle Mariners and had a 0 ERA and 3.11 FIP in 4.1 innings pitched, before being designated for assignment and posting a 3.88 ERA and 9.48 FIP in 2.2 innings with San Francisco’s Triple-A team.

Giles missed all of 2021 due to Tommy John surgery, and most of 2020, the last season of his Blue Jays tenure. Early in the pandemic season, Giles had a 9.82 ERA and a 10.28 FIP in 3.2 innings pitched.

However, Giles’ best season was his last full season in the majors came in 2019 when he had a 1.87 ERA and a 2.27 FIP in 53 innings pitched. This season also featured a career-high 39.9 K% and an 8.2 BB%. Surprisingly, the tanking Blue Jays didn’t trade him at the deadline, which could be seen as one of this front office’s biggest mistakes.

At his best, Giles was an elite closer who had a 2.67 ERA and a 2.37 FIP in 347.1 innings pitched between 2014 and 2019. Hopefully, the 33-year-old can stay healthy and find that form once again.