Former Giants closer Casilla nearing deal with A’s

Reliever Santiago Casilla helped the Giants go far during his seven seasons in San Francisco, three of which ended in World Series championships.

Casilla’s addition also would give the A’s flexibility to deal another experienced reliever such as Madson, Sean Doolittle or John Axford, between now and the July 31 trade deadline.

Casilla, 36, rose from setup man to closer with the Giants, earning 123 saves to go with the four he had during his first stint with the A’s.

[...] Casilla lost the closer’s job during a terrible 2016 season, when he blew nine of 40 save chances, clashed with manager Bruce Bochy over his role and was not among the five relievers whom Bochy picked to try to save a three-run, ninth-inning lead in Game 4 of the Giants’ Division Series against the Cubs, who scored four runs to win the game and series.

Casilla was the closer for the 2014 World Series title team, and he earned four saves during that postseason.

[...] he struck out a career-best 10.1 batters per nine innings, but he became susceptible to the long ball and the big hit.

Even in parting ways with Casilla, Giants officials still believed he could help teams as a setup man.