The Giants have placed pitching prospect Ian Gardeck on waivers, Alex Pavlovic of CSN Bay Area tweets. The move clears roster space for fellow righty Vin Mazzaro, who the Giants have added to their 40-man roster. The team also optioned righty Mike Broadway to the minors.
Gardeck will miss the 2016 season after having Tommy John surgery in March. Last year, the 25-year-old earned a spot on the Giants’ 40-man after posting a 3.54 ERA, 10.8 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 in 86 1/3 innings of relief with Class A+ San Jose.
Broadway struggled after being promoted less than two weeks ago, allowing seven runs in 5 1/3 innings spread over four outings. Mazzaro, meanwhile, performed well for Triple-A Sacramento (albeit with his usual underwhelming peripheral numbers), allowing just one run while striking out nine and walking four in 14 innings. The 29-year-old has appeared in parts of seven big-league seasons, suiting up for the Athletics, Royals, Pirates and Marlins, generally faring well when given opportunities to pitch in relief. He’ll provide the Giants with an extra bullpen arm.
Braves will claim him. Guaranteed!
Don’t understand this, even with the long TJ recovery. Why drop him instead of putting him on the 60-day DL and retaining his rights?