Joe Nathan is returning to the Giants.

A minor-league deal is in place, pending a physical, for Nathan to join his original organization, The Chronicle’s Henry Schulman confirmed on Twitter.

The plan would be for Nathan, 41, to report to Double-A Richmond, Va., to show management his stuff. They picked Richmond over Sacramento so Nathan could work closer to his New York home. According to Schulman, the Giants aren’t ruling out a call-up before roster limits expand to 40 on Sept. 1.

Nathan, who has 377 career saves — eighth all time — returned from a second Tommy John surgery and signed with the Cubs but made just three appearances (no runs) before being designated for assignment in early August.

The Giants wouldn’t take a chance with Nathan if they didn’t believe he could improve their bullpen, which experienced a meltdown in Sunday’s loss to the Orioles. The Giants gave up five runs in the final two innings, and Santiago Casilla blew his sixth save opportunity.

The Giants drafted Nathan in the sixth round in 1995 as a shortstop, and he had a breakout season as a setup man in 2003, Felipe Alou’s first year as manager. He posted a 2.96 ERA in 78 appearances and seemed to be a future closer.

But the Giants unwisely chose to package him with pitchers Francisco Liriano and Boof Bonser in a trade with the Twins, and all the Giants got in return was one year of catcher A.J. Pierzynski.

“Let's just say it didn't work out for the Giants at that time,” Nathan said in 2012.

Nathan’s ERA in seven years in Minnesota was 2.16, and he was a four-time All-Star. He had two more All-Star seasons with the Rangers. His last full season was with Detroit in 2014.

Jon Heyman of MLB Network was the first to report Nathan was signing with the Giants.

John Shea is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jshea@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JohnSheaHey