Giants take a flier on former Padre after years off the MLB radar

Every offseason, some MLB teams do this little magic trick where they pull a name out of the baseball attic — a name that sounds like it belongs on the back of a 1978 Topps card — and suddenly it’s your problem again because you share a division with them.

The San Francisco Giants reportedly agreed to a minor-league deal with Nick Margevicius, complete with a big-league spring training invite. And if he actually forces his way onto the MLB roster, the contract reportedly bumps to an $825,000 salary. 

Giants roll the dice on Nick Margevicius after a long road back

For San Diego Padres fans, this name brings back memories of the past as much as an old throwback playlist you had no idea you still had on your phone. Margevicius was drafted in the seventh round by the Padres from Rider University in 2017. He finally experienced MLB action with the Padres in 2019. Then, as we all know how quickly "life happens," baseball has a way of turning what may have been a familiar pitching arm into just another trivia answer.

Following his stint with the Padres, he joined the Mariners in Seattle, but after that, he basically disappeared from Major League Baseball for a little while. He appeared in games for only two teams (Padres & Mariners) and has been inactive since 2021 according to Baseball-Reference.

But there is a part that makes this more than just a nostalgia hit: Margevicius didn’t disappear. He went and found innings wherever they existed. He pitched in Taiwan’s CPBL with the TSG Hawks, and that stop is a pretty loud indicator he was serious about rebooting his career rather than quietly fading out. 

Now he’s landing with the Giants, the Padres’ pesky neighbor who never misses an opportunity to rummage through the clearance rack at Target. From San Diego’s perspective, it’s not a franchise-altering move. It’s a minor-league flier. A “maybe this works and if it doesn’t, no harm done” signing.

Still, don’t be surprised if Padres fans do that thing where you squint at the name, remember a couple starts, and suddenly have opinions. Because baseball loves a comeback story — it just loves it a little more when it isn’t happening in the NL West… in orange and black.