The Giants announced a huge batch of roster moves prior to today’s Rule 5 protection deadline. One of them was the previously reported acquisition of infielder Brett Wisely from the Rays. He was selected to the club’s 40-man roster along with righties Tristan Beck, Jose Cruz and Keaton Winn, infielder Marco Luciano and outfielder Luis Matos. In corresponding moves, seven players were designated for assignment: righties Sam Delaplane and Drew Strotman, lefty Jarlin Garcia, catchers Dom Nunez and Meibrys Viloria, as well as infielders Jason Vosler and Colton Welker.
Beck, a 26-year-old righty, was drafted out of Stanford in the fourth round in 2018 by the Braves and was sent to San Francisco in the Mark Melancon deal at the following year’s trade deadline. He made only 12 appearances in 2021 due to a herniated disc in his back. Coupled with the lost 2020 season, he had a large period with minimal minor league work. Beck spent most of the season starting at the Triple-A level, posting decent peripherals. However, a .333 batting average on balls in play contributed to an unsightly 5.64 ERA for the Flying Squirrels. If Beck can get off to a solid start back at Triple-A to begin the 2023 campaign, he stands a good chance of seeing time at the Major League level.
Cruz, 22, spent the season in Low A-ball, whiffing an impressive 42.6% of batters faced out of the San Jose Giants’ bullpen. Last week, he was named a California League All-Star. Baseball America named him the best reliever in his league, and also considered his changeup the best in the circuit. Cruz closed out his season with 16 1/3 scoreless innings, and seems ready to take on High-A with the Eugene Emeralds next year.
Winn, a 24-year-old righty starter, pitched at three levels this year as he ascended from Low-A to Double A. A former fifth round pick of the Giants in 2018, Winn had Tommy John surgery prior to the 2021 season. It was a strong comeback season, and Winn reportedly picked up velocity post-TJ. He was able to miss a lot of bats in A-ball and could find his way to the big leagues at some point in ’23.
Luciano, 21, continues to rate as the Giants’ top prospect despite missing two months this year due to a back injury. He was rated as the 17th best prospect in baseball by Baseball America heading into the season, and around his injury managed a 121 wRC+ this year in High-A. Luciano is not necessarily expected to stay at shortstop, but may wind up at third base and should be carried by his impressive power. Luciano is making up for lost time playing in the Dominican Winter League and should open 2023 at Double-A.
Matos, a 20-year-old center fielder, rates as the Giants third prospect according to MLB.com. Signed in the same international class as Luciano, Matos is a well-rounded player who excelled in Low-A last year, leading to a rating of 73rd in the game by Baseball America heading into the season. However, Matos limped to a 73 wRC+ in High-A in 2022, so he picked up some extra at-bats in the Arizona Fall League.
As for the club’s seven DFAs, Delaplane is a 27-year-old righty reliever who was drafted by the Mariners in the 23rd round in 2017. The Mariners booted him off their 40-man roster in May 2021 after he required Tommy John surgery. At that point he was dealt to the Giants for cash considerations. Delaplane dealt with a setback in his recovery this summer, and finds his way off the 40-man once again. Back in 2019, Delaplane capped off his season by dominating Double-A hitters for 37 innings, posting a 36.6 K-BB%.
Strotman, a 26-year-old righty reliever, was a fourth round pick by the Rays back in 2017. He went to the Twins in the 2021 trade deadline deal for Nelson Cruz. Strotman was claimed off waivers by the Rangers in September of this year, and then by the Giants five days ago. As MLBTR’s Steve Adams wrote at that time, Strotman has struggled with walks and was no lock to survive the winter on the Giants’ 40-man.
The Giants claimed Viloria, a 25-year-old catcher, last Thursday from the Rangers along with Strotman. As Adams wrote at the time, Viloria hasn’t hit much in parts of four big league seasons but he’s done better at Triple-A and is “touted as a plus defensive backstop, boasting a 34% caught-stealing rate between the big leagues and the minors, and drawing plus reviews for his framing.”
Nunez, 27, was drafted out of high school by the Rockies in the sixth round back in 2013. Nunez got a decent chunk of playing time in 2021, but managed just a 68 wRC+. Spending his entire season at Triple-A this year, he didn’t fare any better offensively. The Giants picked him up via a waiver claim six days ago and are apparently aiming to pass him and Viloria through waivers and keep them around as catching depth. They’re now back to just Joey Bart and Austin Wynns as catchers on the 40-man, so an addition is likely this winter.
Garcia, 30 in January, joined the Giants via a February 2020 waiver claim from the Marlins. Since then he’s worked 152 innings out of San Francisco’s bullpen with a fine 2.84 ERA, although his 15.5 K-BB% doesn’t catch the eye. While Garcia generally exhibits solid control and was a fairly notable part of the club’s 2021 bullpen, he was entrusted with lower-leverage work out of this year’s pen. With over five years of big league service, Garcia projected for a $2.4MM salary through arbitration. Since Garcia was apparently unlikely to last through Friday’s non-tender deadline with the Giants, they decided to open up the 40-man spot today to give a spot to a prospect.
Welker, a 25-year-old corner infielder, was drafted in the fourth round by the Rockies back in 2016. After giving him a brief big league taste last year, the Rockies let Welker go to the Giants in a July waiver claim this year. Welker, who was suspended for 80 games in 2021 for PED use, was limited to ten games this year due to season-ending surgery to repair a torn labrum. After carrying him on their 40-man for part of that recovery process, the Giants have sacrificed his spot due to the Rule 5 deadline.
Vosler, a third baseman, was drafted in the 16th round by the Cubs back in 2014. He was sent to the Padres for Rowan Wick in November 2018. Two years ago he became a minor league free agent and the Giants inked him to a Major League deal. Now 29, Vosler was productive at Triple-A in 2019 and ’21 but managed just an 82 wRC+ this year. He bounced up and down with the Giants this year and did all he could, posting a fine 126 wRC+ in 111 scattered plate appearances that included a home run off Pablo Lopez in June.
After Evan Longoria, the Giants split third base time fairly evenly among Vosler, Wilmer Flores, and David Villar this year at over 200 innings apiece. Flores and Villar remain with the Giants, who preferred Longoria’s $5MM buyout to his $13MM club option. According to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale back in October, the Giants are one of three clubs Longoria would consider in ’23, which will apparently be his final season.
Isnt that 7 drops from 40 man, not 6?
Vosler DFA’d? One of the prettiest swings I have seen in-person
Also you linked to the wrong Luis Matos
Was wondering about Vosler also—maybe they are thinking he hangs around DFA land for a bit with his age and they can resign him later
he has been optioned more than any giant in recent memory, he must be out of options.
RR has him with 1 option left–so if he is still floating around later, he may be back
C’mon once you’ve seen one Luis Matos, you’ve seen them all!
Dang they definitely should have kept him then!
I am surprised by the Vosler DFA, but maybe by picking up Brett Wisely (which I think is an excellent pickup) they felt they had too many LH infielders. But of course, I expect LaStella to be DFA’d.
The others don’t surprise me and some may return if unclaimed. As usual, somebody will pick up Delaplane, probably Vosler, too.
Tommy should have been DFA’d but Farhan has too much pride.
I hope they have a plan in place to throw him into a trade b/c keeping him on the roster is madness.
Exactly. Cutting him would be admitting it was a terrible signing. If I have to watch LaStella get one more start at DH I’m gonna lose it.
Doesn’t matter if he’s at bat or in the field, the Giants need to clear him from the roster. And I’m sure they will, regardless of the contract.
@Pete, who in the world would take LaStella in a trade at this point?
Pirates said hello
giantsphan12 — Maybe an overseas team, like in the Congo. (I only made the statement b/c otherwise I can’t figure why the Giants haven’t already cut him.)
Thanks for the corrections.
Jarlin Garcia pitched like a guy worth keeping around.
No he didn’t
He didn’t give up an earned run until June and 13 of his 27 earned runs came in 3 of his 58 appearances. Every team can use a lefty out of the bullpen like that.
Red Sox should take a look at Garcia
Hunter Bishop is gonna get scooped up in the Rule 5 draft and become the next Bryan Reynolds. UGGGGGH!
Hunter Bishop is a bust. It’s almost as if you shouldn’t draft players because they are local. Passed on Manoah and Carroll
I think SF is safe! Because Hunter Bishop is not rule 5 eligible til next year but he is a 24 year old who cannot cut it at A+ .235 117 k in 315 ABs
Actually data, he’sRule 5 eligible now. Let me add that even if the Giants lose players in the R5 draft, there’s a good chance they get them back. The drafting team must keep the R5 drafted player on the 26 man roster for the entire season. How many of the eligible R5 draft players are major league ready? Bishop, as you say, is not ML ready.
ah I missed this part: Players signed at 19 years or older have to be protected within four seasons.
I thought it was 5 for all..
But yes any team that takes Bishop, I wish them well because he generates a lot of wind
@davemlaw Don’t even put that out there in the Universe, damn it!! Yer killing me right now. Jeeze.
That would be a nice future for Hunter Bishop, but I doubt someone is going to give up a roster spot for him.
Vosler was actually not horrible. He wasn’t good either but he had his moments and in a year where there was very little to get excited about. I imagine all of the guys getting DFA’d by FZ are pretty stoked they don’t have to check MLBtraderumors every day to see when they would get churned out… after today!
It’s getting to the point where any GM with an itchy trigger finger and a few extra roster spots could do what FZ is doing. Doesn’t seem to be any particular strategy to the churn other than pick up as many guys as you can in a season, throw them against the wall, and see if they stick! Not many are sticking BTW and the ones that are I wish didnt.
By measure of OPS, Vosler was one of the best hitters on the team, even with his cool period at the end of the season. The move seems ridiculous.
It does seem odd, especially with LaStella still on the roster.
Is Heliot Ramos a bust? How’s the farm system? Do we have studs ready for next year, or are we still years out?
Harrison likely ready in 23. Luciano in 24. System is borderline top 10.
Saying the Giants have a top 10 system is laughable. Harrison and Luciano are the only notable players right now. Way too many mediocre college players taken in the 1st round under Farhan
Bleacher Report has them at 12. MLB.com had them at 11.
A farm system is not solely based on AAA. In fact, the Giants have some pretty interesting prospects at A and AA. No, you probably won’t see many in 2023, but patience, patience . . .
amk1920, Your use of the term “laughable” is hyperbole. They were top ten-ish as recently as 2022 preseason. Fangrahs has them at #13. Admittedly they regressed a bit, but a big part of that was due to their #1 guy, Luciano, missing significant time due to injury. He did return healthy to lead the Emeralds to the AA championship.
Luciano has a FV of 55, and they have 9 guys with a FV of 45 or higher. They have more guys with a FV of 45+ than any other team. With some progression they could very likely be a top ten system once again.
Luciano is great but they’ve been a terrible drafting team since Farhan took over. Bishop, Bailey and Bednar all look like bad picks. A bunch of mediocre college players in the 2nd round.
Kyle Harrison was a 2nd round pick who, I think, is thought of as better than “mediocre”. They’ve got six other 50 FV prospects (according to MLB.com) that Zaidi drafted as well. Whatever, though.
So instead of looking at the overall level talent, you cherry-pick a few guys that have been less than hoped so far. You do know that most of the guys on any top 100 prospect list won’t even be league average, right? Every team has guys that will disappoint.
Fans seem to forget, with the Rule 5 draft coming up, almost every team is facing some sort of roster crunch. Especially this year.
If anyone claims Vosler, or Garcia, they have to make room on their 40-man roster. Some fan was even worried recently about protecting Luciano, because the Giants claimed Nunez and Viloria. I guessing no one has room to claim either one of them, and they’ll be in Sacramento for depth. I wouldn’t be surprised if Vosler and Garcia wind up there as well.
The only problem could be that Vosler doesn’t have to be on a big league roster to stay with whoever signs him. And rule5 drafted players do have to stay on a 26man roster. So teams might see vosler as a better alternative. I also. believe the emergence of Villar makes Vosler expendable.
Except that Villar hits RH, Vosler LH. I think the Brett Wisely acquisition had more to do with letting Vosler dangle. Someone will pick Vosler up.
Good point Pete regarding wisely over Vosler and I agree vosler will get picked up
Most of these guys can become minor league free agents if no one claims them so they are not an automatic for Sacramento. And there are some worse players the Giants kept than Vosler and Garcia.
Yeah, there’s no guarantee they’ll stay with the Giants org. But if they’re worth keeping I’m sure the Giants will do what they can to keep them.
And maybe you’re smarter than me about which players are better than, others but I’ll trust the talent evaluators making those decisions. I know for a fact they are smarter than me, with vastly more information, both first first hand and analytic, than I do.
The link for Luis Matos goes to the wrong guy on Baseball Reference, FYI. The linked guy is 44 years old and was active in the early 2000s.
The links are added automatically…we don’t have time to search each player up on B-Ref, especially on a day like today. But I have fixed it!
Little surprised to see Keaton Winn protected and not any of Nick Avila, Will Wilson, or Michael Stryffeler. Guess we’ll see!
As tad2b13 reminds us, every team has a big-time roster-crunch of their own to deal with. I mean, if the Giants lose a guy they’d rather have kept, maybe they end-up grabbing a guy they like even better than the guy they lost.
Both Winn and Beck are head scratchers. Neither were protected last year. Winn, at least, showed some progress this year. Beck went backwards.
Giants need the space for Judge and Turner.
No, they would need to make more space to sign any free agents. The 40 man roster is at 40 with all these moves.
Why did they jettison Garcia and Vosler yet keep Marte and Walton? Well, I guess Walton sticks around so they can justify that horrendous trade that saw Prelander Berroa land with the Mariners.
77, Berroa starred for Giants Eugene, hi A, then didn’t at AA Arkansas for Seattle as he went other way. 63 walks in 100 innings in 2022. Why you so upset?