SAN DIEGO - The San Francisco Giants have agreed to a one-year deal with free agent pitcher Kevin Gausman, the club announced Tuesday afternoon. The deal is worth $9 million, reports Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic. 

Gausman's 2019 season was one to forget. After looking great in 10 starts to close the 2018 season with the Braves, in which he pitched to a 2.87 ERA, Gausman was thought to be one of the better arms in the Braves' rotation heading to 2019. Instead, he had a 6.19 ERA in 16 starts. He was claimed off waivers by the Reds in early August and pitched as a reliever down the stretch. On that role, he had a 4.03 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and 29 strikeouts in 22 1/3 innings. 

It's unclear at this juncture what role the Giants have slotted for Gausman. He was obviously a lot better in relief last season, but he's been a quality starter at several points in his career. He also never pitched with a home park like Oracle Park. Camden Yards is hitter-friendly, SunTrust Park is neutral and Great American Ball Park is hitter-friendly. Oracle Park is the most pitcher-friendly yard in baseball. One of his problems last season was allowing much more hard contact in the air, and his new home should suppress that, and it's possible this was the impetus for the Giants grabbing him. 

The Giants' sure-thing starters right now are Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija. Gausman would be competing with Tyler Beede, Logan Webb and Dereck Rodriguez for a rotation spot at this point and those three were all north of 5.00 in ERA last year. 

With a deal like this, there's always the thought that if the Giants get the best version of Gausman and aren't in the race come July, he'd be a nice flip candidate. San Francisco also traded for infielder Zack Cozart in a deal with the Angels on Tuesday.