Giants Acquire Mike Baumann

The Giants have acquire right-hander Mike Baumann from the Mariners in exchange for cash considerations, per an announcement from both clubs. San Francisco’s 40-man roster now stands at 39. Baumann was designated for assignment by the Mariners earlier this week.

Baumann, 29 in September, was a third-round pick by the Orioles back in 2017 and made his big league debut for the club in 2021. He spent much of his professional career as a starter before moving to the bullpen full-time following the 2022 season and enjoyed some noteworthy success in Baltimore’s bullpen with a 3.69 ERA in 83 innings since converting to relief full time. He struck out 21.7% of batters faced during that time, but an elevated 11.7% walk rate during that time in conjunction with his lack of minor league options ultimately made him expendable in a relatively deep Orioles bullpen.

That led Baltimore to designate Baumann for assignment back in May, at which point he was promptly acquired by the Mariners alongside veteran minor league catcher Michael Perez in exchange for catching prospect Blake Hunt. Unfortunately, Baumann’s time in Seattle left something to be desired, as he struggled badly to a 5.51 ERA with a 6.04 FIP thanks in part to a massive uptick in hard contact. Baumann’s barrel rate in Seattle soared to an eye-popping 17% after sitting at just 3.6% with the Orioles this year and 8.2% from 2022 to 2023. That led Baumann to surrender a whopping four homers in just 16 1/3 innings of work, or more than two per nine innings. Those struggles left Baumann in a precarious spot in Seattle, and the club ultimately decided to part ways with the 28-year-old earlier this week when lefty Gabe Speier was ready to be activated from the IL.

Now, Baumann is headed to his third club of the season to join the San Francisco bullpen. With right-handers Sean Hjelle, Luke Jackson, and Randy Rodriguez all struggling to varying degrees in the club’s bullpen, it’s not necessarily a shock that the Giants, whose cavernous home ballpark is known for its homer-suppressing tendencies, would be interested in taking a shot on the services of a player who has gotten solid results in the past but has developed issues with the long ball. Baumann fits that description perfectly, and he’ll now look to get things back on track going forward with a Giants club that ranks bottom-five in the majors and better than only the Rockies among NL clubs with a 4.42 bullpen ERA.