The Giants announced this morning that they’ve signed outfielder Will Brennan to a one-year, major league contract. Brennan was non-tendered by the Guardians back in November. Right-hander Rowan Wick was placed on the 60-day injured list to open up a spot on the 40-man roster for Brennan.
Brennan, 28, was sidelined throughout 2026 by surgeries on his left UCL and groin, but Justice de los Santos of Mercury News reports that Brennan is full-go entering camp with no restrictions. An eighth-round pick by Cleveland back in 2019 who made his big league debut in 2022, he’s slashed .267/.307/.373 (90 wRC+) in parts of four seasons in the majors but has just 269 games in the majors thanks to an injury-plagued start to his young career.
Looking at Brennan’s last mostly healthy season in 2024, he slashed .264/.309/.388 (98 wRC+) in 114 games for the Guardians that year. That’s roughly replacement level production, but a closer look reveals that he was actually considerably more effective when healthy. Brennan slashed .256/.314/.415 (107 wRC+) prior to a bout of rib cage inflammation that sent him to the injured list, and when he came back in July he didn’t look quite right and struggled badly with a nine-game hitless streak. After being optioned to Triple-A for a couple of weeks, he returned in early August and slashed .330/.349/.408 (117 wRC+) the rest of the way.
All of that is to say Brennan has flashed impressive potential at times but struggled to stay healthy for long enough to put it all together. That makes him a worthwhile roll of the dice for a Giants team that already has a full outfield (featuring Heliot Ramos, Harrison Bader, and Jung Hoo Lee) on paper but could certainly make room for another big bat if Brennan manages to hit his way into the lineup. His contact-oriented, low-strikeout profile is a familiar one to a club that already employs Lee and Luis Arraez, and it’s easy to look at Lee’s 2025 season (107 wRC+, 2.4 fWAR) as the sort of campaign Brennan might be hoping to put together in 2026.
Brennan has options remaining and could be sent to the minors in the event that he struggles or is otherwise squeezed off the roster, making the deal a fairly low-risk one for the Giants. For now, he’ll look to prove he’s healthy and compete for a bench job with the Giants alongside fellow outfielders Drew Gilbert, Luis Matos, and Grant McCray.
As for Wick, the righty was signed by the Giants last week to a big league deal following an impressive run in Nippon Professional Baseball with the Yokohama DeNA Bay Stars. The former Cubs reliever underwent Tommy John surgery during his time with the Bay Stars and is not expected to pitch in 2026, so his placement on the 60-day IL is hardly a shock.
We’re def going to win the World Series!😅
This guy instead of Pham or Marte or Grichuk??
Yes.
Younger, cheaper, and they were obviously looking for a left handed option.
All of the players I listed have a better career ops vs RH pitching than Brennan. Youth doesn’t mean better, especially on a one year deal. None of those guys will cost more than a few million and who cares what the player costs if the team is better?
The owners.
They’re trying to stay under the luxury tax penalty line.
The 3 players you mentioned don’t have minor leagues options left. That flexibility may have been a factor in this signing.
He’s also better defensively than those three.
Above average defender, contact hitter.
Nice bench guy, might cost Gilbert a roster spot though. Good ST competition for that last OF spot !
He be mucho cheaper than those guys–guessing thats the reason since they have their OF set already
Vet LHH OF reserve. This move sends Gilbert to AAA for more “seasoning”?
Eventually Webb’s arm is going to fall off if they continue to make him throw all those innings,
Good luck, Chill Will!
I won’t be surprised if he puts together a good run.
Brennan is a Cleveland specialty, puts the ball in play without much on it, good defender. He has a hard hit rate of 30%, Kwan’s is 20% whereas the MLB avg is nearly 40%. The team finally decided they need more power but unfortunately the Nolan Jones they brought back hasn’t resembled his pre back ache self. Maybe he’ll revert to form this season but there is Delauter, Valera or Kayfus if not. Good guy, that Will Brennan, good luck.