Jose Alvarez Signs One-Year, $1.15 Million Deal with San Francisco Giants

Jose Alvarez has landed a Giant(s) deal…

The 31-year-old Venezuelan professional baseball pitcher and left-handed reliever has signed a $1.15 million, one-year contract with the San Francisco Giants.

Jose Alvarez

Alvarez will look to build off momentum he had with the Philadelphia Phillies last season when he posted a 1.42 ERA over eight outings. He was struck by a 105 mph line drive in the groin area August 20 against the Toronto Blue Jays and didn’t pitch for the rest of the year.

Alvarez allowed just one earned run over 6 1/3 innings before the injury, holding right-handed hitters to 3 for 15 with one extra-base hit. He pitched for second-year Giants manager Gabe Kapler for Philadelphia in 2019.

The deal that includes a club option for 2022 worth $1.5 million for the veteran reliever. Alvarez would receive a $100,000 buyout if the Giants decline the option.

Also, the Giants announced right-hander Jordan Humphreys was claimed off waivers by the San Diego Padres.

Andy Garcia to Narrate the Documentary “Miss Angela” About 91-Year-Old Cuban Discovery Angela Alvarez

Andy Garcia is lending his voice to a special story…

The 62-year-old actor and musician will narrate Miss Angela, the working title of the feature documentary on Angela Alvarez, the 91-year-old Cuban singer-songwriter who had her lifetime’s work of songs discovered, and recently recorded her first album.

Andy Garcia

Filmmakers Paul Toogoodand Lloyd Stantoninterviewed Alvarez and her children about her life and recorded when she performed her music in a debut concert (on her 91st birthday) at Hollywood’s Avalon Theater, an event Garcia both played in the band and hosted.

The film follows the story of Alvarez’s flight from Cuba in the 1960’s and subsequent life as wife, mother and working woman who hid her childhood ambition to be a singer and songwriter. It was only when her grandson, composer Carlos José Alvarez, asked about the traditional Cuban folk songs she had been singing to generations of the family, she told him and unearthed a treasure trove of original songs.

Alvarez recorded her first album in collaboration with world-renowned Cuban musicians from Buena Vista Social Club and her grandson. So at the age of 90, Alvarez is finally living her dream.

“As a fanatical student of Cuban music it’s easy to recognize when you see someone that’s special, not only musically, but lyrically,” he said. “Angela Alvarez is a real discovery. I’m honored to be a part of it — to be asked to lend my support.”

The film charts Alvarez’s childhood in pre-revolutionary Cuba when she announced to her family she wanted to be a singer and songwriter which was expressly forbidden by her father and grandfather as an unsuitable career for a girl. So, she wrote songs in secret.

Their family became part of the Pedro Pan exodus where 14,500 unaccompanied children were spirited out of Cuba between 1960-62. It then took Alvarez four more long, frightening years to escape, and then reunite her family, finally settling down in the United States.

“This is a tale of second chances, where it is never too late to live your dreams,” said Toogood. “It’s the story of a strong woman, a refugee, who fought to make her family safe and a story about the power of music.”

The pinnacle of the film is a debut concert, with world-class Cuban musicians accompanying Alvarez on at the Avalon Theater.

Musicians who took part are Grammy winners Luis Conte, Jose AlvarezAlberto Salas, Ramon Stagnaro, and Justo Almario with Grammy nominated musicians Danilo Lozano, Dayren Santamaria and Roberto Rosario. Other musicians include Carlos Jose Alvarez, Jorge Sawa-Perez, Roque Garcia, Mariano Dugatkin, and Jessicca Brizuela.

The film is now in postproduction.