The Royals announced via their player development account on X that they have traded catcher Logan Porter to the Giants for cash considerations or a player to be named later. Porter was not on the Royals’ 40-man roster and won’t need to be added to that of the Giants.
Porter, now 28, has a small amount of major league experience. He got into 11 games for the Royals last year while both Salvador Perez and Freddy Fermin were battling injuries. Porter hit just .194/.324/.323 in his 38 plate appearances. He was non-tendered after the season and re-signed on a minor league deal.
He has generally performed well in the minor leagues but slumped last year, though he now seems to be back in good form here in 2024. From 2018 to 2022, he hit .293/.428/.497 across various minor league levels, drawing walks 16.6% of the time while being struck out at just a 21.9% rate.
Last year, his batting line fell to .232/.339/.377 in 110 Triple-A contests, but he’s cranked that up to .319/.428/.575 in 32 games this year. He isn’t going to maintain a .400 batting average on balls in play forever but he has six home runs and is drawing walks at a 15.9% clip. His overall production this year translates to a 157 wRC+, indicating he’s been 57% above league average.
Porter would have had a hard time making it back to the majors with the Royals this year, with Fermin and Perez healthy. The club also has Austin Nola on the 40-man roster and on optional assignment, as well as having Brian O’Keefe around as non-roster depth. It seems they decided to give Porter a path to playing time elsewhere while perhaps pocketing a bit of cash.
For the Giants, they have been playing a bit of musical chairs at the catcher position this year. Offseason signee Tom Murphy has a significant knee sprain and an uncertain future. It was about six weeks ago that a timeline of four to six weeks was provided but there hasn’t been an update since then and he hasn’t started a rehab assignment. Patrick Bailey missed some time on the concussion injured list but has been back for about three weeks now. Curt Casali has replaced Murphy as Bailey’s backup but is hitting just .161/.297/.161 this year. Blake Sabol is on optional assignment but plays other positions. Jakson Reetz got a brief look while both Bailey and Murphy were hurt but has since been removed from the 40-man.
There are a lot of moving parts in that group but it’s possible Porter will be the next man up if there’s an injury or if Casali keeps struggling. If Porter gets a roster spot, he has a full slate of options and won’t be able to get to one-year of service time this year.
Going to have to add him to the 40 man before they can DFA him.
Farhan’s performance bonus is based on the number of DFAs per year.
I’m just excited that there’s “more to come”.
I shall cancel my weekend plans as I await breaking news on this monumental transaction.
Funny, the picture they used for him on the headline has him in uniform and on a cell phone. So much for no phones on the field ; p
That is not a phone, it’s his batting helmut!!
Das ist meiner Helmutt!
Logan Porter is a great story. Grew up in Phoenix area watching Royals spring training, then signed with little fanfare to be organizational depth. Pretty sure he wasn’t even drafted. But he got into minor league ball, was a great teammate, and…started to hit. This Royals fan is sad to see him go, but happy to see him get a better opportunity.
That is awesome. Go Logan.
Awesome background, thanks Chup!
You can never have enough catching depth
Apparently KC can
Welcome to SF Logan! I hope you love it here and we love you! Thank you KC for taking good care of him!
You tell him! 🙂
Hi Pete! Good to see you!
I wish the headline was “Giants Trade Zaidi and Melvin to Rangers for Bruce Bochy”
I like the trading of Zaidi and Melvin. However trade should be to Guardians for Stephen Vogt.
I’d trade Zaidi for a side of garlic fries. Melvin’s worth at least a couple of beers.
And the giants continue to acquire catchers
pretty soon – You cannot claim to be a Journeyman Catcher without having spent time with SF
Another Zaidi dumpster dive instead of getting significant impact players
Another ridiculous whinge from a hater.
Casali has been a really good with pitchers – They should really look at that angle. — they seem to win with him behind the plate at a better clip than all other C’s they have placed there (not counting Bailey)
Definitely a guy who will make a good coach when he’s out of the game. Which will be very soon, no doubt.
Oh Sweet now we will hang with the Dodgers