The Giants announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Mauricio Llovera, with righty Keaton Winn optioned to Triple-A in a corresponding move. To open a spot on the 40-man roster, outfielder Dalton Guthrie was designated for assignment.
Llovera, 27, pitched for the Giants last year, posting a 4.41 ERA in 16 1/3 innings. He was non-tendered at season’s end and returned on a minor league deal. He’s thrown 22 2/3 innings in the minors this year with a 3.97 ERA, striking out 31.5% of opponents while walking just 6.5%.
Those strong peripherals will get him another shot at getting outs at the big league level. He’s out of options, which means he can’t be sent back down to the minors without being exposed to waivers. But he has just under a year of service time, meaning the Giants could keep him around for future seasons if he manages to stick.
Guthrie, 27, just came over about two weeks ago, acquired from the Phillies in a cash deal after he was designated for assignment. He appeared in 14 big league games with the Phils last year and hit .333/.500/.476 but 23 games this year amounted to a line of just .167/.286/.208. Between the two clubs, he’s hit .279/.362/.443 at Triple-A this year for a wRC+ of 101.
He has the ability to play all three outfield positions and has also played the three infield spots to the left of first base. He still has a full slate of options and less than a year of service time. Given those factors and the offense he’s shown at times, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him garner interest from other clubs. The Giants will now have a week to trade him or pass him through waivers.
Maricio Llovera speaks of the pompitus of love.
Ha! (Love it.)
Walk out song is Turn me Loose by Loverboy
This makes no F..ing sense. Erik Miller with a better ERA, FIP and no HR’s in 36 innings and only seven runs gets passed over? He’s light years better than Llovera..
You make a good point, Erik.
Erik Miller is walking 7.5 batters per 9 innings in AAA. He needs to get the walks under control to get called up
I think the reason they chose Llovera is because he is a guy they’ll have no issues with DFA’ing when they need a roster spot, whereas with Miller they see him as a long term member of the bullpen with whom they would not want to burn that roster spot for the rest of the season. Save him for the end of the season because they’ll have to protect him after the season anyway.
Same holds true for Tyler Fitzgerald. They’d rather bring up Isan Diaz because they’ll have no qualms DFA’ing him whereas Fitzgerald permanantly takes up a roster spot.
skullbreathe, I guess since you don’t understand the reasoning, it must be wrong.
Guthrie was never in Zaidi’s plans. Just another one of his dumpster dives.
yea…those never work out for Zaidi, amirite!
As intelligent as you think you are you do know that some acquisitions are to provide depth in the system. I’m probably wasting time because as usual you show extreme originality without my help. I believe you have the “dumpster dive” posting record.
Yeah, ’cause only Zaidi signs guys to minor league deals.