The Giants have claimed reliever Reiver Sanmartin and outfielder Justin Dean off waivers from the Reds and Dodgers, respectively. They opened a 40-man roster spot by designating righty Mason Black for assignment. The moves were relayed by Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area.
Sanmartin, 29, has pitched parts of four MLB campaigns with Cincinnati. He has only made one big league appearance over the past two seasons, tossing 1 2/3 frames while allowing an unearned run against the Blue Jays on September 2. The Colombian-born southpaw otherwise pitched the entire season with Cincinnati’s top farm team in Louisville. He had a strong year, working 67 1/3 innings of 2.67 ERA ball behind a 58.7% ground-ball rate.
Dean is a speed and defense center fielder who just won a World Series with Los Angeles. He got into 18 regular season games and made 13 more appearances in the postseason. They only let him bat twice — he went 0-2 with a strikeout — but clearly valued him as a depth piece. The 28-year-old Dean (29 next month) has a full slate of minor league options and is coming off a .289/.378/.431 showing with 27 steals in Triple-A.
The moves probably spell the end of Black’s time in San Francisco. He’s a former third-round pick who was viewed as one of the organization’s more talented pitching prospects when he was called up in 2024. Black struggled to a 6.44 ERA across 36 1/3 innings during his debut season. He only pitched once in the big leagues this year, instead struggling to a 5.81 earned run average over 30 appearances (24 starts) in Triple-A.
Black will be traded or placed on waivers within the next five days. There’s a decent chance another team takes a flier. He turns 26 next month and still has a minor league option. Black sits around 93 MPH as a starter but could be a speculative relief target. He has posted middling Triple-A numbers in consecutive seasons but fanned nearly a third of opposing hitters in Double-A back in 2023.
So the guy saves the World Series and days later is cut and claimed but the arch rival, that’s pouring salt into the wound
Had to make room for Vesia and Muncy.
Will go down as a Dodger legend.
Yes I’m sure when he gets his ring he’ll hock it.
Keep it classy LAD.
Think that was Pages who made that catch
Different play. Different game.
How exactly did he “save the World Series”? By not playing that lodged ball? Any reasonable outfielder would have done that.
Actually it was Kike yelling at him with hands up that stopped him from grabbing the ball.
But I did appreciate what Dean contributed to the team. Seems like a good guy that understood his role, and played it to the best of his ability. I hope he succeeds moving forward.
Is it true that the Dodgers are fielding wild trade offers from 29 other clubs for their starting catcher?
Poor guy went from the best to poverty at best….
Thanks for the memories Justin Dean!
Less than a week ago, literally, Dean was saving LA from sure turmoil. Today, he’s fighting for a spot on the Giants roster. Life comes at ya fast, folks.
wow they DFA’d black? that is kind of surprising,
Yeah, last I checked he was still a top 25 prospect. He allowed a lot of homers in his MLB outings, but very small sample size.
Unfortunately, the Giants seemed to have moved on from him in the regular season. He was left in AAA when they needed starting pitching, going with Teng and McDonald instead. Black and McDonald’s AAA numbers were very similar so the fact that he didn’t get recalled was a sure sign that this was going to happen next for him.
Good call by Friedman on Dean. Now he needs to trade Teo to a team that needs a DH, even if it means paying some of the contract.
Dean is 28. Running out of time to make an MLB career, and it wasn’t going to happen with the Dodgers. Good for him, frankly.
Both guys will be DFA’d as soon as the Giants need roster space. Buster is hoping they’ll sneak at least one of them through waivers then outright them to Sacramento for depth.