Bochy penned letter apologizing to Casilla after NLDS loss

Santiago Casilla's tenure in San Francisco ended in one of the worst ways possible.

In the final game of the Giants' postseason, the bullpen collapsed in the ninth inning against the eventual World Series champion Chicago Cubs in Game 4 of the NLDS.

That collapse happened after San Francisco took a 5-2 lead into the ninth. Five Giants pitchers collectively blew the lead, while Casilla - the team's longtime closer who lost that job earlier in the season - watched the entire thing unfold from the bullpen.

After new broke Wednesday that Casilla had agreed to a two-year deal with the Oakland Athletics, the San Francisco Chronicle's Henry Schulman revealed that Giants manager Bruce Bochy never got a chance to personally apologize to Casilla before the winter.

So instead, Bochy penned his former player a heartfelt letter, saying he wished they had an opportunity to speak.

Related: Athletics, Casilla reportedly agree to 2-year, $11M deal

Bochy went on to say how much he appreciated what Casilla did for the Giants over his seven seasons by the Bay.

A 13-year veteran, and a member of the Giants since 2010, Casilla had his worst season since joining San Francisco in 2016, authoring a 3.57 ERA and losing the closer role. The tipping point was when he blew two consecutive saves in September.

Over his time with the Giants, Casilla owned a 2.42 ERA and notched 366 strikeouts over 394 2/3 innings of work.