The Giants are in agreement with reliever Justin Garza on a minor league deal, reports Ari Alexander of KPRC 2 (X link). The right-hander is expected to report to minor league camp, Alexander adds.
That indicates Garza won’t be on the radar for a spot in the Opening Day bullpen. He’ll presumably start the season at Triple-A Sacramento and seek a midseason call-up. The Fullerton product has pitched in the majors in two of the past three years. He logged 21 appearances in Cleveland in 2021. After spending the ’22 campaign in Triple-A, he returned to the big leagues with 17 outings as a low-leverage arm for the Red Sox last season.
Garza has yet to find much success against big league hitters. He posted a 4.71 ERA in his rookie season and allowed 7.36 earned runs per nine for Boston. Garza managed only an 18.7% strikeout percentage and walked upwards of 13% of batters faced for the Sox. He has given up a lot of hard contact in each of his MLB stints.
Things have gone a bit more smoothly in the upper minors. Garza owns a solid 3.98 ERA over parts of three Triple-A campaigns. He has fanned an above-average 27.7% of opposing hitters at that level. Throwing strikes consistently has still been an issue, but the 29-year-old (30 later this month) has shown the ability to miss bats against upper level hitters. He has averaged just under 95 MPH on his sinker in his big league work.
Garza has two minor league options remaining. If the Giants call on him at any point, they could move him between Oracle Park and Sacramento without exposing him to waivers.
This story is way less interesting then the embedded TEMU adds, opening day can’t come quick enough
That Temu commercial during the Super Bowl felt like a hypnotic, mind-control experiment.
Definitely not the pitcher Giants fans have been waiting to be signed. Zaidi … please get a top of rotation SP immediately (Snell Montgomery Bieber Cease Luzardo Valdez)!!!
Then what?
What? Then we have a much better rotation(almost a full one!) and let’s go
Who is Valdez?
Framber?
Don’t think he is on the trading block anymore (if he ever was). Possibly if they are out of contention at the deadline, but that’s probably not likely.
If Braxton Garrett wasn’t ailing, he’d be a good get for SF. I could see the Giants and Marlins matching up.
I’d rather have Rich Hill and Lorenzen or some similar combo… we need innings in the first half right? Got with established veterans try for a group that can keep it around 4 ERA while the team gets healthy. But if out of your group we got Montgomery for 4 @ $110 million is be happy
any relation to matt garza?
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Could be his husband.
Both Californians?
Good luck with this guy. He was just plain awful in Boston last year. Hopefully he can figure things out and secure a spot on the major league roster but he’ll need massive improvements in order to do so.
Crawford couldn’t be DFA’d end of preseason. Now THAT would have been a historical loss.
Worse than trading Mays and McCovey?
Craw played himself off the roster. There’s a time—no matter how great they were—to hang up the cleats.
Another dumpster pick. Sign a legitimate starter already it’s not like they don’t need like 2-3 of them right now.
Seriously. I don’t see how they wouldn’t add a top starter after adding what they have to the lineup. Would feel like that’s all for nothing if you’re going to be relying on a rotation with basically three rookies and a converted RP project.
Why on Earth would SF have wanted to waste a valuable roster spot on someone who can’t hit, can’t run, can’t stay off the IL, is making more and more fielding mistakes, and won’t put in the effort to stay in shape? Zaidi made the right call on that one, especially since Craw has turned out to be an ungrateful whiner. You can’t hold onto these guys forever.
Source on the ungrateful part?
Going to the press to bad rap the guy who gave you 25+ million bucks to stink up the joint the last couple years, but then had the gall to not pay you again?! Pretty ungrateful.
They invited him to be a non roster invitee. That’s worse than a rejection and he definitely deserves more than that. I don’t disagree he’s been bad, but all players hit the bottom of the curve eventually. If he wants to keep playing that’s up to him. Seems like a mistake not to retire gracefully, but I think he deserved a better send off than that. There are a lot of Crawford jerseys out there… seems like a black eye for the GIants and not Crawford, even if he’s declined to the point of not resigning him.
Craw was a great Giant. He wasn’t effective any longer, offensively and even at SS. The FO did the right thing. It is a sad and beautiful world.
25? Try $32 mil. And yes he whined and that is disappointing. This issue should not be an issue. He wanted a ML contract. Ahmed got a Milb non-roster invite. One can be DFA’d and the other can’t. All of you that are feeling sorry for BC please figure out why they did what they did.
Belt has more value than Crawford. Do you see him getting a ML offer? Votto just signed a minor league deal. There’s only one black eye here and that’s from a $32 million punch.Vanta, you gave no reasonable reason to offer BC a better deal. Have you considered this obvious argument: if he’s offered a ML deal he takes it. Is that what helps SF for 2024 or do they develop Luciano Schmitt Fitzgerald while Ahmed helps hold the fort until if/when he steps away and the youngsters step up. Ahmed either gets DFA’d. That opens a 26 man roster spot. If it’s Crawford, he keeps a 26 man roster spot. So Vanta, offering Crawford a ML deal makes you happy but it’s OBVIOUSLY a bad idea.
$25mil? Try $32 mil.
Vanta, if they offer him ML deal he accepts it? Hello? Can’t DFA him like you can with Ahmed? Was he feeling “rejected” taking playing time from Schmitt Fitzgerald while making $16 mil last year? Gimme a break.
You strain your shoulder with that reach?
Does anybody knows if Snell and Montgomery are EVER going to sign? And what’s happening with Clevinger? He can’t be too expensive. Giants look better than last year, except for the rotation.
I’d stay away from Clevenger but agree on your basic point.
Maybe they’ll give the rookie pitchers a chance, which is great, see what they really have. Another thing , this guy Ismael Munguia. I never heard of him before, but he’s been playing very well in the minors for the last few years and in spring training. He’s not in the roster. Any idea what they’re going to do with him?
Munguia is going to be shipped back to Sacramento if not Richmond. No way they put him on the roster.
I agree with you, I do not understand why teams don’t allow young players to play. I started thinking is that just my not paying attention or is that the norm?
In total, there are 780 players on MLB rosters combined. On opening day 2023 there were 35 players under 24 on the Roster and 14 under age 23!!!!
I don’t see the benefit of bringing back Crawford. And I don’t agree that was the greatest loss in the Giants’ history.
Real player losses that mattered::
Trading Zack Wheeler for Carlos Beltran on a 3 month loan was a great loss.
Trading Francisco Liriano, Joe Nathan, and Boof Bonser for AJ Pierzynski
Not resigning Kevin Gausman
To name a few. .