The Giants announced Friday that they have claimed outfielder John Andreoli off waivers from the Rangers. Texas designated him for assignment earlier this week after signing Shawn Kelley to a one-year contract. In order to make room on the 40-man roster for Andreoli, the Giants designated right-hander Derek Law for assignment.
Andreoli split the 2018 season between the Orioles and the Mariners, posting a combined .230/.284/.262 slash in a tiny sample of 67 plate appearances. He has a strong track record of getting on base in the upper minors, as evidenced by his .264/.371/.408 batting line in nearly 2000 Triple-A plate appearances, and he’s knocked 34 homers, 83 doubles and 26 triples in that time while also collecting 121 steals. He’ll give the Giants a much needed outfield option, although with San Francisco reportedly on the hunt for additional veteran outfielders, it’s far from a guarantee that Andreoli will factor prominently into the organization’s 2019 plans.
As for Law, the 28-year-old burst onto the scene with a dominant rookie campaign in 2016 but has failed to approximate that year’s success in two subsequent efforts. Law was dominant as a rookie, recording a 2.13 ERA with a 50-to-9 K/BB ratio and a 50.3 percent ground-ball rate in 55 innings out of Bruce Bochy’s bullpen. Fielding-independent metrics largely supported that emphatic announcement of his arrival in the Majors, with FIP (2.53), xFIP (3.12) and SIERA (3.00) all concurring on his excellence.
Since that time, however, Law has been torched for a 5.68 ERA in 50 2/3 MLB frames. While his strikeout rate has remained constant, his 3.9 BB/9 mark over the past two seasons is two and a half times higher than his 1.5 mark as a rookie. His ground-ball rate, meanwhile, plummeted by more than 10 percent, with his home-run rate experiencing a corresponding spike. Law’s fastball velocity hasn’t depreciated, so perhaps another club will look at him as an intriguing bullpen reclamation project. He’s out of minor league options, so any club that picks him up (be it via trade or waivers) will need to carry him onto the Opening Day roster or else expose him to waivers.
Trade for Kevin Pillar.
Where’s that gonna get them?
Nowhere!! lol I havent seen the Giants connected to Pillar since Zaidi has taken over.
I’d like to see them get Taylor from Nats. There was talk last year about pillar and Taylor btw. Nothing said this year tho
The Rays need to claim Law so they can have Sherriff, the Outlaw and now Law, have their own western movies.
Solid
workin on the farm these days. E I E I O
who even down votes this? lol wow
Law, kinda surprised ??
He hasnt been any good the past two years so NO
what happened to Derek Law? He was really good in 2016 but just went over a cliff last year. is he done, or what?
I was a lil bit too, at first. But Law seems to be regressing. I hope he finds it. Maybe for the Pirates or somethin
DFA’d purely on the basis of his punchable, punchable face.
Naw Strickland already gone. Law is a good kid
This is an outstanding move. Law isn’t anything special and has been consistent with his regression over the past couple of seasons. He should have been gone at least last season if not two offseasons ago.
Two off seasons ago would have been silly. The Giants were coming off an NLDS appearance and sporting a record-high payroll. Getting rid of Law, who makes the league-minimum salary, after an excellent rookie season would have been pretty silly in most trade scenarios
it’s actually about time, he was great when he first came up and then fell off pretty quickly. I’d like to see him do well somewhere but really the giants need to pack the roster and trim it to try to dig out some diamonds in the rough and fix the farm
When you get rid of Hunter Strickland then designate Derek Law….. You’re doing the right stuff. I like the new GM already.
I agree. I think he is doing a great job so far. Now he just needs to sign Harper lol jk
It’s honestly not that bad of an idea. It’s rare to see a talent like Harper at so young of an age (26!) on the open market, with very few teams actually interested. Yes, Harper may not make the Giants WS contenders, but it’s sort of like the Bonds situation. Giants signed Bonds in 1992, didn’t actually make their first playoff appearance with him on the team until 1997, eventually went to the WS with him in 2002. That’s what you’re banking on with Harper, is that he’s still an all star in 3-5 years when the young core (Ramos, Bart) builds up. Giants have a lot of money, more than the Sox or Padres or Phillies. They could make it happen.
Good thoughts baseball1600. I think most Giants fans would embrace the Harper signing if it were to happen. … I like your comment about our young core. wish there was a few more names on that list lol
It could happen… it most likely will not with Zaidi and I think all giants fans are mostly comfortable with his approach. We are pretty realistic about how the last few seasons have gone and would be patient to wait for a perennial contender.
Terror661, totally disagree, Strickland at worse had he matched 2018 would have been a good trade piece at the deadline, instead they let him go and get nothing. Law is still young enough to bounce back. With the exception of the elite relievers who tend to become closers most middle relievers get to their prime around 30ish. Giants had a couple of great examples in Lopez and Affeldt. Giving up on a talent like Law especially with the Starting Pitching the Giants have is ridiculous.
He’s got a decent shot at getting LF and has a profile similar to Alex Gordon.
Glad to see the Zaidi bolstering a weak farm system, but I’m getting concerned about the starting OF options for the Giants this season. I’m starting to wonder if he was handed a bag of loose change to cover the cost of the rebuild when accepting the job. Yikes! Please sign a major league outfielder – just one, please!
It’s going to happen. Krukow said this week that of Slster, Duggar, and Williamson, he’d expect only one of them to be in the outfield on Opening Day. My guess would be Duggar.
I think it’s a natural assumption that they are willing to commit CF to Duggar with his defensive ability, so I agree that we’ll likely see him starting in CF on opening day. I like Slater and some of what I see in Williamson but I wouldn’t be willing to commit either to a starting role without more proof of staying power. This waiting game to see what Harper and Machado sign for may well be the death of me
To bad for Law. TJ surgery really screwed over his career.
Typical shelf-life for the average reliever. Decent for a season or two. Time to move on.
What do teams keep seeing in Andreoli lol. At least guys like Oliver Drake light up the minors. Andreoli has been average at best for years now.
Looking at Andreoli’s slash line, he’s right on par with the flotsam and jetsam Evans used to scrounge up as “depth moves”. I hope this guy works out, but he’ll have to tear it up convincingly in ST to even have an outside shot at the OD roster.
I for one am tired of these pick ups. I personally like Slater and think he can easily be a dependable starter in the majors. If they don’t like Slater then go after someone that has proven themselves like Slater has in his short stint in the majors, they keep adding minor league hitters.
Another Giants reliever hits the market and Dipoto cant get to the phone fast enough.
Yea! Now we’re talking!
Guessing that’s sarcasm?
Law has been a disaster since he blew it in the NLDS in 2016. GREAT MOVE
Oliver Drake lit it up in the minors? Kinda pedestrian. If Andreoli could cut down on his strikeouts, he’d be a pretty decent lead off hitter. A lead off hitter is what the Giants need the most.
This could mean drew Pom will be middle relieving. Big upgrade no doubt
How does adding an outfielder turn a starter into a reliever?
I get where he is going, but he is wrong about a. Pomeranz will still be fighting for a starter job b. Law has just as good a chance to lower his high ERA as Pomeranz does.
And the ridiculous moves keep on coming. Law is young, has shown a lot of potential in the minors and his first few months in the majors and you give him away to pick up a guy who not even the TX rangers thought they should hold on to?
I know the saying one man’s garbage is another man’s treasure, but Zaidi seems to keep going to that dumpster over and over. I’m not advocating signing Harper or anything like that, but if you’re just trading one minor league hitter for another, what’s the point?
The giants have a great bullpen! Law is a good kid but showed a lot of warts since his rookie season and hasn’t really been able to replicate it. The reasoning I’m guessing is to shore up the weakest part of your team (outfield) while at the same time not giving anything major up from a strength (bullpen). I’m not psyched about losing law I liked the kid but he didn’t set the world on fire. Andreoli has solid AAA numbers why not take a flier on him if he can help your weak outfield. Also I think it kinda shows that Zaidi doesn’t have any major takers for his bullpen pieces and or he’s fine waiting for an injury to find a buyer for Watson or smith. In the meantime law is mostly expendable based off the last few seasons where he posted a 4.5+ era and was homer prone with control issues. Not the biggest fan as I think law could right the ship but the move makes plenty of sense! Zaidi is very limited on moves with the 40 man crunch and has already jettisoned some valuable albeit personally irresponsible pieces in Strickland. Giants do not need more relievers in a year they aren’t really going to contend. I’d rather see law go than Williamson, or slater or any other who can help the outfield.
I think you make good points, but I don’t think you sign Andreoli in the 1st place. We have a pretty good idea the Giants SP will not be innings eaters beyond a (hopefully) healthy Bum. The Giants BP will be eating up innings again this year, and if you’re part of the group that thinks they should trade Smith, if you trade him now that is now two less arms you have, if you hope to trade him midseason you don’t want to risk injury by having him run out there a ton or pitch a bunch of unneeded innings.
I’d rather see Slater and Duggar get real chances and if Williamson can hit like he was before getting hurt last season give him one last shot.
Larry Baer is looking over Zaidi’s shoulder to make sure he doesn’t disturb their “championship core of players” or spend any real money. why should they? Giants fans will keep coming to Oracle Park with the fallacy they are contending. why not bring back Timmy, too?