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We’d have thought the Giants might be the least likely of the other 29 MLB teams to put in a claim on Doval, but here we are. Doval has collected 107 of his 109 career saves for the Giants and went to an All-Star Game in 2023 before being sent to the Yankees prior to the 2025 trade deadline. He returns to San Francisco having posted a 4.30 ERA and a 62/32 K/BB in 58 2/3 innings this season. The Giants will be able to keep him in 2027, but it’ll likely mean paying him $6 million-$7 million. That’s not a terrible roll of the dice, since his stuff is still just fine. However, he’s at -0.6 bWAR and 0.8 fWAR over the last three years combined.

Doval had a 3.79 ERA since arriving from the Yankees, but the Pirates weren’t going to bring him back at $7 million or so for his final arbitration year next season. He’ll likely be popular as a reclamation project this winter.

The Pirates were down 9-2 in the eighth, so it didn’t really matter much that Doval surrendered a solo shot to Tyler Stephenson. Still, it’s not a great first impression as he auditions for a late-game role. Even though his groundball rate remains excellent, Doval has allowed a career-high seven homers this season. That’s one homer every six innings, compared to one every 14 innings over the course his career.

Doval has had a rough year, posting a 4.54 ERA to date, but he’s still throwing 97-100 mph with plenty of movement and keeping the ball on the ground for the most part. The Pirates figure to have him mostly set up for now, but if he gets off to a nice start, save chances would become a possibility. Doval did, after all, save 89 games from the Giants from 2022-24.

It’ll be prospects Omar Alfonzo and Luis Cruz heading to the Yankees in the deal. The 29-year-old reliever is on the move for the second consecutive trade deadline after struggling to a pedestrian 4.54 ERA, 1.41 WHIP and 39/18 K/BB ratio across 39 2/3 innings for New York. His high-leverage experience, along with a change of scenery, give him some value for the Pirates as they attempt to cobble things together at the back-end of their relief mix.

Doval had uncommon velocity tonight, hitting 102 mph on the gun on three occasions, but he gave up three singles and a double, none of them hard hit. Also, he didn’t back up home plate on the double, which was a bad look even if it didn’t affect the scoring. Doval is sporting a 6.04 ERA in 22 1/3 innings, and it’d be no surprise if the Yankees tried to move on from him at some point.

Doval gave up a walk and a single to begin the inning, and the Jays scored a run on a sac fly with one out. Daulton Varsho then hit a grounder that should have ended the game, but Doval didn’t hustle to cover first base after Ben Rice made a bad decision to go after a ball that was going to be an easy play for Jazz Chisholm Jr. However, it ended up not costing Doval, as he was able to get Kazuma Okamoto to ground out to end the game. Doval remains behind Bednar and probably Fernando Cruz in line for saves.

Doval’s cutter velocity was down 2.4 mph from last season, which is more notable because he’s slated to be a key part of the Dominican Republic’s bullpen in the WBC. He’ll probably pitch a couple of more times before leaving the Yankees.

Doval struggled after coming over to the Yankees at the trade deadline last year, posting a 4.82 ERA, 1.607 WHIP, and 22/11 K/BB ratio in 18 2/3 innings. He does have a career 3.39 ERA and 108 saves in 297 MLB games, so there is a good chance he can bounce back and be a solid late-inning reliever for the Yankees in 2026.