The Giants have signed utilityman Drew Robinson to a minor league deal, as per Baseball America’s Kegan Lowe. Robinson became a free agent after being released by the Cardinals in August.
Robinson appeared in only five MLB games for the Cards in 2019, a sharp dropoff after playing in 95 games (246 PA) as a bench player for the Rangers in 2017-18. Originally a fourth-round pick for the Rangers in the 2010 draft, Robinson has a .202/.296/.369 slash line over his 253 career Major League plate appearances, but has hit a much more respectable .252/.362/.438 over 3686 PA at the minor league level.
Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi made a habit of picking up depth pieces in his first full year running San Francisco’s front office, and Robinson becomes the latest to get a look from the team. The 27-year-old brings a lot of defensive versatility, as he started multiple games at six different positions (second base, third base, left field, right field, shortstop, and primarily center field) in 2019, and also has experience as a first baseman.
Cool
He might be a guy who could fill-in if injuries happen…takes good at-bats and decent defense on the corners but I don’t know about up the middle
i assume its a 2 year pact? 2019 contract year isnt over yet.
This is a Farhan type of move. Hopefully he turns out like Donovan Solano did in 2019.
Can we call this the first move of the 2020 season?
Twins picking up that Cruz’s option was the first move
they havent done it yet, they simply said they will. they cant do it until after the season ends.
Who?
It doesnt matter if you dont know who he is. Zaidi does, and that’s the important thing.
I saw him play in Class A Myrtle Beach while with the Rangers organization. He played a solid 3rd Base and good bat. Has some pop, even in Myrtle Beach. Tough hitters park with breeze blowing off the ocean.
You guys are a lot more optimistic than I am. He can play different positions that’s it. He’s twenty seven years old and his offensive stats don’t justify him being a backup catcher in the majors. He was released and went without a team for two months. Low risk I get that but it’s a long shot he plays much of a role if any at all for the Giants. If he does the Giants are going to be really bad next year
The same could have been said for Donovan Solano but yet he turned out to hit .330 and played a big role in their second half success
The only thing I remember about him in his brief stay with the Cardinals is that he struck out a lot.
“Respectable” .252 average in the minors and 27 years old? It’s gonna take years to rebuild. They should have started after winning the 2014 WS. Let’s face it; two big contracts for Cueto and Samardzija that have not produced ( and they were already around 30 yrs old) plus trades on guys that were already on their way down (giving up Bryan Reynolds in the McCutchen trade, etc.) They should give chances to guys in the minors when they are 20,21,22 yrs old. Let them play in the bigs, even if they finish last. Don’t wait till they are 25, 26 or 27. By that time, it could be too late.