Giants agree to 4-year, $62M deal with Melancon

The San Francisco Giants have struck a deal with closer Mark Melancon.

San Francisco announced the deal, worth $62 million over four years, pending a physical. The contract has an average annual value of $17 million over the first two seasons, a record for relievers, according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports.

Melancon can opt out of the deal after the second year, added Passan.

The Giants felt they were close to wrapping up a deal over the weekend before the first day of the winter meetings in Maryland, CSN Bay Area's Alex Pavlovic reports.

Since 2014, the right-hander has been one of baseball's premier closers. Last season, he posted a ridiculous 1.64 ERA between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Washington Nationals, striking out 65 batters in 71 1/3 innings of work.

This is a big deal for the Giants, considering their final game of the season against the eventual World Series champion Chicago Cubs came down to one inning.

The Giants were up 5-2 in the ninth inning of a Matt Moore gem in Game 4 of the National League Division Series when manager Bruce Bochy used a combination of five pitchers to try to get the final three outs of the game.

Chicago ended up winning, instantly making it a priority for the Giants to land a premier closer if they want to compete.