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Amateur Draft Signings: 6/15/18

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Here are the day’s deals of note from the top few rounds of the draft (rankings referenced are courtesy of Baseball America, MLB.com, Fangraphs and ESPN’s Keith Law — with the scouting reports from MLB and Fangraphs both coming free to the general public) …

  • The Giants agreed to a $1.5MM bonus with second-round choice Sean Hjelle, according to MLB.com’s Jim Callis (via Twitter). A towering righty from the University of Kentucky, Hjelle was taken with the 45th overall choice, which came with a $1,587,600 pick allocation. He ranked as high as thirtieth on pre-draft lists, earning that placement on the Baseball America board. Evaluators seem to think the polished collegiate hurler is likely to be a steady, back-of-the-rotation arm, though he isn’t generally seen as possessing immense upside.
  • Mets second-rounder Simeon Woods-Richardson will receive a $1.85MM bonus to forego his commitment to the University of Texas, Callis tweets. That lands above the $1,485,100 slot value at the 48th overall pick. While the right-handed hurler has shown quite a lot of promise at times, there are concerns that he has not consistently maintained that high level throughout his starts. Grades were all over the map, with BA highest at #76. Clearly, the Mets believe they can tap into the tools.
  • The Brewers will save some money against the slot value on Micah Bello, their competitive balance round B pick, MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo reports on Twitter. He’ll receive a $550K bonus, leaving the club with some excess pool space from the 73rd overall pick ($824,900 slot). A Hawaiian high-school outfielder, Bello did not draw top-100 billing but placed 121st on BA’s board. He’s credited as a quality overall hitter who may yet have a bit of upside, with some speed and perhaps some untapped power potential, though it’s not clear whether he’ll remain an up-the-middle defender as a professional.

Giants Notes: Luxury Tax, Duggar

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  • The Giants are still “slightly” underneath the $197MM luxury tax barrier, tweets Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Rosenthal notes that while the numbers over on Cot’s Contracts indicate that organization is roughly $2MM north of that line, he’s confirmed that San Francisco is narrowly avoiding taxation at this point. The exact amount with which the Giants have to work remains unclear, though the apparent proximity to that threshold would seemingly make it difficult for the Giants to do much at the non-waiver trade deadline without jettisoning some payroll in a trade or receiving substantial cash considerations along with any player they acquire.
  • While outfield prospect Steven Duggar has been on a hot streak in Triple-A, the Giants are still in no rush to bring him up to the Majors, writes John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle. GM Bobby Evans explains to Shea that the Giants not only want to see Duggar “put pressure” on the front office to call him up and adds that it’s also a matter of “the opportunity being here.” Shea notes that Mac Williamson is the only outfielder on the big league roster with options remaining, and he’s been seeing regular left field work since returning from the DL. Cutting ties with either Hunter Pence or Austin Jackson, of course, would open a spot, though either speculative move would come with some notable financial and clubhouse considerations for the front office.

Giants Re-Sign Trevor Brown

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  • One day after they released catcher Trevor Brown, the Giants have brought him back on a new minor league deal, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area tweets. Brown will return to Triple-A Sacramento, where he has hit .222/.344/.259 in 32 PAs this season.

Giants Placed Cory Gearrin On Outright Waivers Last Week

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The Giants placed reliever Cory Gearrin on outright waivers last week, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports (video link). No one claimed Gearrin, however, and he remains a member of the Giants. The luxury-tax threshold helped influence the decision to waive Gearrin, per Rosenthal, who points out that San Francisco is $2MM-plus above the $197MM figure. Had someone taken Gearrin off the Giants’ hands, it would have saved the team upward of $1MM and helped give it more flexibility as the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline approaches. It’s no surprise the 32-year-old Gearrin went unclaimed, though, given that he has recorded a 5.11 ERA over 24 2/3 innings with unappealing walk, groundball and home run rates (4.74 BB/9, 34.2 GB percentage, 1.82 HR/9).

Minor MLB Transactions: 6/9/18

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Here are some minor moves from today…

  • The Giants released Trevor Brown from their Triple-A affiliate today, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports tweets. Brown was catching for the Sacramento, where he’s been since the start of the 2017 season. He made 227 MLB plate appearances with the Giants from 2015-2016, slashing .236/.282/.354, good for a 73 wRC+ and a tenth of a win above replacement. In Triple-A this season, Brown managed a .344 OBP but a slugging percentage nearly 100 points less. The former 10th-round draft pick was said to be dealing with multiple injuries at the start of the season, so it’s possible that his health issues contributed to the club’s decision to release him.

Johnny Cueto Hoping For End-Of-June Return

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  • Giants right-hander Johnny Cueto is “cautiously optimistic” he’ll be able to come off the 60-day DL when he’s first eligible (June 30), Chris Haft of MLB.com writes. Cueto hasn’t pitched since suffering an elbow injury at the end of April, when he was among the majors’ best starters (0.84 ERA, 2.74 FIP in 32 innings). But even without Cueto and ace Madison Bumgarner, who just made his 2018 debut Tuesday after his own lengthy absence, the Giants have managed a 32-31 record to stay in the thick of what has been a mediocre NL West.

Evans On Giants Aversion To Rebuilding

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Giants general manager Bobby Evans joined Jim Bowden and Mike Ferrin on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM today (Twitter link, with audio). Evans sidestepped some questions about potential interest in Bryce Harper as a free agent — “Our focus right now is on getting him out … we’ll certainly be aggressive and appropriate with our interest.” — but he did more broadly discuss the organization’s perennial “win-now” philosophy. At a time when more and more teams are pursuing aggressive tear-downs, Evans stated that it’d be a “big adjustment” to ever even consider embarking on a rebuild.

“We want to compete to win every year,” Evans says of his Giants. “That’s our goal. That’s our plan. You get bumps in the road — problems, challenges at times — but I think it’s challenging no matter which route you take. I think when you have such a strong core, with [Brandon] Crawford, [Brandon] Belt, [Buster] Posey, [Johnny] Cueto, [Madison] Bumgarner — it makes it a lot easier to choose to compete. … Building a [minor league] system has never been our ultimate goal. Our ultimate goal is to have success at the big league level, which a strong system helps with, but it doesn’t solve.”

Giants Activate Madison Bumgarner From Disabled List

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The Giants announced this afternoon that they’ve activated Madison Bumgarner from the 60-day disabled list for his season debut. The San Francisco ace missed the first two months of the season after suffering a fractured finger that required surgical repair late in Spring Training. Righty Pierce Johnson was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento to open a spot on the 25-man roster for Bumgarner, who’ll start tonight’s game against the Diamondbacks.

[Related: Updated San Francisco Giants depth chart]

Despite the fact that Bumgarner hasn’t made a single start at the MLB level this season, while Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija have each been plagued by injuries, the Giants have remarkably remained afloat with a 30-30 record in surprisingly feeble NL West. The D-backs currently lead the pack with a 31-28 record, though they’ve largely been in a free-fall for the past several weeks (in no small part due to several key injuries of their own).

The return of Bumgarner will represent a seismic boost to a Giants rotation that has turned in a miserable 4.59 ERA that ranks 23rd among MLB clubs. With Cueto and Samardzija both on the shelf, the Giants currently have Chris Stratton, Andrew Suarez, Derek Holland and Dereck Rodriguez backing Bumgarner in the rotation mix, as lefty Ty Blach has already been dispatched to the bullpen after struggling to a 4.90 ERA as a starter.

Bumgarner made just two rehab appearances before returning to the Giants, though he could hardly have looked more impressive in that limited minor league assignment. The lefty tossed 8 1/3 innings between the Giants’ Class-A Advanced and Triple-A affiliates, posting a 15-to-1 K/BB ratio and allowing just two hits (one a solo homer) in addition to hitting one batter. He topped out at 4 2/3 innings on said rehab assignment, so it’s possible that manager Bruce Bochy exercises caution and keeps Bumgarner on a shorter leash than usual. But it seems he’s mostly ready to return to the top of the rotation for a surprisingly competitive club that, at present, sits just 1.5 games out of the lead in its division.

The 28-year-old Bumgarner is earning $12.5MM this season, and the Giants hold a no-brainer club option for the same amount for the 2019 season. That’ll be the final year of team control over Bumgarner, who’ll head into free agency at the age of 30 in the 2019-20 offseason.

Orioles Claim D.J. Snelten

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The Orioles announced that they’ve claimed left-hander D.J. Snelten off waivers from the Giants. Baltimore had an open spot on its 40-man roster, so no corresponding move was necessary. Snelten has been assigned to Triple-A Norfolk for the time being.

[Related: Updated Baltimore Orioles depth chart]

The 26-year-old Snelten is listed at a towering 6’7″ and 245 pounds, and he entered the season ranked as the Giants’ ninth-best prospect, per Eric Longenhagen of Fangraphs. While he doesn’t throw especially hard, Snelten possesses an above-average changeup and has performed reasonably well in the upper minors. He allowed five earned runs in 4 1/3 innings in his MLB debut this season but comes to the Orioles organization with a career 2.84 ERA, 7.5 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 in 69 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level. Longenhagen’s scouting report notes that Snelten’s size and unorthodox delivery help him succeed against same-handed batters, while the changeup gives him a viable weapon to use against right-handed opponents.

Snelten was only just selected to the 40-man roster this past offseason, so he has two option years remaining beyond the 2018 campaign. He can be shuttled between Norfolk and Baltimore to lend some depth to the Orioles’ staff, and with several trade candidates in the Baltimore ’pen, it’s possible that a spot will eventually open for Snelten to receive a lengthier look.

Giants Outright Gregor Blanco

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The Giants have outrighted outfielder Gregor Blanco to Triple-A Sacramento, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area was among those to report. Blanco accepted the assignment and will report to Sacramento on Tuesday. His roster spot in San Francisco will go to fellow veteran outfielder Hunter Pence, whom the team activated from the disabled list.

The 34-year-old Blanco could have elected free agency after clearing waivers, but he’ll remain in the Giants organization as depth. Blanco’s in his second stint with the Giants, with whom he was a successful role player at times from 2012-16 – a stretch in which they won two championships.

After spending last season with the NL West rival Diamondbacks, Blanco returned to the Giants over the winter on a minor league pact. Blanco did enough in camp to win a season-opening spot in San Francisco, but he ended up struggling to a .242/.289/.350 line in 129 plate appearances before the club removed him from its 40-man roster.

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