The Giants released outfielder Ryan McKenna, who’d been with their Triple-A affiliate in Sacramento, per the transaction log at MiLB.com. He’s now a free agent.
McKenna joined San Francisco on a waiver claim earlier this season, coming over from the Orioles — the only organization he’d previously known. Baltimore selected McKenna with its fourth-round pick (No. 133 overall) back in 2015. He’s appeared in parts of four big league seasons, tallying 523 plate appearances with a disappointing .221/.298/.323 slash in that time. The Giants passed him through waivers late in May.
On the whole McKenna has better production in parts of four Triple-A seasons, but much of his production there came several years ago. The righty-swinging outfielder ripped Triple-A opposition apart in his first run there back in 2021, hitting .307/.423/.683 with 11 homers in only 123 plate appearances. He followed that with a strong 2022 showing in only 38 plate appearances there but spent most of the ’22 campaign as a bench player in the big leagues. He’s posted below-average numbers in Triple-A over the past two seasons as he’s frequently shuttled between the minors and the majors. Overall, McKenna is a career .253/.348/.510 hitter in 80 games at the top minor league level.
Now 27 years old, McKenna can play all three outfield spots. He’s drawn solid ratings across the board but graded out particularly well in left field. The elite speed he showed as a rookie has slipped a bit, but even though he’s no longer sitting near the top of the MLB scale, McKenna slots into the 74th percentile of runners in the big leagues, per Statcast, averaging 28.1 feet per second. He’s also displayed above-average arm strength in each of his big league seasons.
That profile should get McKenna a look elsewhere, albeit on a minor league deal. He’s out of minor league options, so if he’s added back to a new club’s 40-man roster at any point, he’d need to pass through waivers before he’d be eligible to be sent down.
Future Marlins or White Sox player
Don’t see him going to a non contender. He probably signs a minor league contract with a contender ( Orioles?) and is a depth piece in case of injury. He serves no purpose for a rebuilding team.
I follow the Giants like a freak, and I’ve literally never heard of this guy. I only hope we can recover from this massive loss.
He was up for a few games in May when everyone was hurt. Didn’t go well
You must have been on vacation when he was up…
He’d be smart to sign with the Orioles on a minor-league deal, have a strong showing in AAA, and then start fresh on a minor-league deal in 2025 with a new club. The O’s would give him that chance and in return keep him there as an insurance policy.
It seems Giants would the at or near the top teams with the most DFA’s this season
It’s because we sign so much cr..,well, you know.
Nope. The top team for DFA’s is the Mets with 26 this season. WSox are second with 20, the O’s third with 19, and Marlins next with 17. This DFA put the Giants number at 16, one more than the Yankees, two more than the Pirates and A’s, each with 14, and 3 more than the M’s, RSox, and Rockies, each with 13. I didn’t do an exhaustive count, but it seemed like about half the teams were in double-digits in number of DFAs.
Don’t get the negativity towards the fringes of the roster being constantly fluid. To me, it just shows that team management has a good work ethic. Every day is a day you can improve the roster. Outside of fringe players constantly being churned, I can’t see a downside.
Yeah, I actually think all the little chess moves are kind of fun to watch. It’s the Mitch Haniger and Tom Murphy kinda deals that I’m not crazy about.
At least the Haniger deal turned into Ray, the Murphy deal however….ugh
The Murphy deal looks even worse when you look at Bart’s production in Pittsburgh
I was excited for both of those. Sounded like an unlucky Hanigar had a great attitude and Murphy could add some power of the bench. The baseball Gods knew better.
Games are won and lost each year in the margins.
Nothing new here…FZ special on aisle 9
Orioles on a minor league deal to serve as injury replacement option and to showcase himself for another major league deal with another team next year. If the Os needed him due to (EVEN MORE) guys on the IL, he’d likely be released rather than make it to the off season on the 40 man roster.
Could work for a smaller market club like Pittsburgh, or teams looking to have competition for spots in 2025 like Cincy, Toronto, Tampa.
I want the Tigers pick up Ryan McKenna and waive Zach McKinstry.
Keep Zach, waive Fogell McLovin instead.
ZM can literally play every position well- a good glue guy to plug and play when a guy needs a day off.
Worst hitter on the team and that saying a lot.
Fish