The Giants have designated infielder Micah Johnson and utilityman Orlando Calixte for assignment, as Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle was among those to report on Twitter.
San Francisco also removed righty Dan Slania from the 40-man via outright assignment. He cleared waivers. Another 40-man casualty, infielder Engelb Vielma, did not. Joining the Giants’ MLB roster are catcher Aramis Garcia and a trio of pitchers: righties Tyler Herb and Tyler Beede along with lefty D.J. Snelten.
Johnson has already bounced around between a few organizations this winter, moving from Atlanta to Cincinnati and then out west. The Giants will gladly stash him in Triple-A if he ultimately clears waivers.
As for Calixte, the 25-year-old has touched the majors briefly but hasn’t hit much at all in limited opportunities. At Triple-A in 2017, he posted a .243/.283/.421 slash over 401 plate appearances.
Micah is going for the record of being in every organization. 5 down 25 to go
Micah Johnson never even put on a pair of spikes for his last two organizations, the Reds and Giants. He biggest challenge has been to change the team cap on his twitter profile. lol
Calixte should get snatched up pretty quickly. Cheap power from a corner outfielder.
Too bad he’s a short stop by trade
Calixte should get picked up pretty quickly. Cheap power from a corner outfielder.
Snatched or picked up, lol. Hate when phone mucks me up
Wonder who will claim Micha Johnson now?
Probably even his mother wouldn’t at this point.
Should have gone with Span and Pence instead.
Starbucks Barista is Micah’s next team. Who won that deal Frankie Montas injured, Trayce & Micah meh. Peraza & Schebler jury still out. Frazier one of my favorite X-ChiSox not exactly a clutch hitter though. Dodgers on losing end of that one. My Sox will trade you a pitcher that is already or soon to be injured. Get em Rick
Montes was the headline part of the package that got the Dodgers Hill and Reddick.
I’d love to see Micah Johnson return to the White Sox organization. They could use some depth at AAA and he could potentially vie for the leadoff spot in spring training as a LF or DH.
The White Sox don’t currently have a competent #1 hitter on their 40-man roster unless CF Charlie Tilson can finally regain his health which is still a huge question mark. Their future core leadoff man looks to be CF Luis Robert who doesn’t figure to reach the big leagues until at least 2019.
Johnson could be a valuable long term asset to the organization even if he doesn’t fulfill his promise as a player which has been negatively impacted due to injury. He’s a super smart kid who ultimately plans on getting a law degree whenever he hangs up his spikes to pursue a job as an MLB GM. His career path could be similar to former White Sox utility infielder Tony LaRussa and 2B Chris Getz. He also possesses similar athleticism to current White Sox VP Kenny Williams who also never lived up to his hype as an MLB player. Perhaps Johnson can eventually achieve his goal of GM and push Rick Hahn into the VP slot when Williams leaves the organization.
I don’t see a Starbucks barista job as Johnson’s future. In addition to his college degree and baseball acumen, Johnson is a budding artist. He might even settle for a role in the White Sox marketing department on his way to the GM chair.
Johnson has decent enough versatility and has hit well enough in AAA over the past few years that he should draw a claim. CIN and SF are very high on the priority list which means most of the league hasnt even gotten a shot at him yet
As for Calixte, it kills me to say this because I’ve been very high on him since pre-2013 but he just looked lost out there this past season. He’ll get picked up again, but I think he’s an emergency depth guy at this point.
Do to a chronic elbow situation that resulted in surgery while at the University of Indiana as well as some stone hands, Johnson’s versatility afield is pretty much limited to LF/DH/PH and PR.
Giants know they need a legit star to bring people back and fill all those empty seats of last year’s disaster. They should deal anyone not named Buster.
Are the Giants front office staff on vacation? Still have not seen any official transactions regarding most of these moves on their MLB site, ESPN, Baseball Reference, etc. Micah Johnson is still listed on their 40-man roster as 11/24 turns into 11/25.