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Giants Notes: Bart, Winn, Eldridge

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The Giants are nearing a decision point with catcher Joey Bart, who is now out of options and seems unlikely to crack the club’s Opening Day roster. Patrick Bailey is set to be the primary backstop after a strong season last year and the club signed Tom Murphy in the offseason to back him up. They also have Blake Sabol on the 40-man and can now option him to the minors. He was a Rule 5 pick last year and had to stay up due to the restrictions of that status, but they have now fully secured his rights and can send him down to act as a depth piece.

A spring injury could always clear a path for Bart but he otherwise seems poised to be squeezed off the roster in the next month or so. It’s something that Bart is aware of and he spoke to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle about it. “I try not to look out too far ahead,” Bart said. “I can only control what I can control, otherwise you can go off too many places mentally and that wouldn’t put me in the position to be my best. I’m just going to get after it and have fun and have a good spring.”

The second overall pick in the 2018 draft, Bart has hit just .219/.288/.335 in his first 503 major league plate appearances, striking out in 35.4% of them. His work at Triple-A hasn’t been outstanding either, having slashed .274/.357/.434 at that level over the past three years. That line looks decent at first glance but it all came in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, where it actually comes in below average, 97 wRC+. His 28.3% strikeout rate at that level is also on the high side.

Slusser notes that Bart showed up to camp this year in excellent condition, with caveats that “best shape of his life” narratives are common at this part of the calendar. Whether any other clubs buy into his altered physique or not, he could garner interest in spite of his uninspiring results thus far. He was still considered a top 100 prospect in the league as recently as two years ago and catching tends to always be in demand. Slusser speaks to an unnamed scout and executive who each suggest there would be interest from other clubs.

Last month, MLBTR’s Anthony Franco took a look at some clubs who could make sense as a landing spot, listing the Brewers, Diamondbacks, Marlins, Pirates and Rays. Milwaukee has since agreed to terms with Gary Sánchez while Pittsburgh added Yasmani Grandal, but the other three remain plausible fits. Bart’s recent struggles will likely lead to a modest return but the Giants have a few weeks to try to line something up.

Turning to the rotation, Slusser also relays that Keaton Winn is dealing with some elbow soreness. MRIs didn’t reveal any structural damage but manager Bob Melvin says they are “trying to formulate some opinions on where we go.”

Winn also dealt with some elbow soreness last spring and missed about a month of the summer, going on the injured list in the minors while on optional assignment. The fact that no structural damage can be found is perhaps a good sign, but any little issue with a starting pitcher figures to be magnified given the general flimsiness of the club’s starting rotation.

Both Alex Cobb and Robbie Ray are set to start the season on the injured list, rehabbing from hip surgery and elbow surgery, respectively. That leaves the club with a rotation headlined by Logan Webb but little certainty beyond that. Jordan Hicks will be attempting to transition from the bullpen to the rotation, a role in which he has yet to prove himself. Youngsters like Winn, Kyle Harrison and Tristan Beck are the likeliest to fill out the rotation but none of that group has even a year of big league experience.

If Winn’s elbow issue requires him to miss any time, that could force the Giants to turn to depth pieces, with Slusser highlighting non-roster invitees Spencer Howard and Daulton Jefferies as a couple of possibilities. The former has a career ERA of 7.20 while the latter has hardly pitched recently due to thoracic outlet surgery in June 2022 and then Tommy John surgery in September of that same year. If the Giants decide to bolster their rotation mix with an external addition, the free agent market still features Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery, Michael Lorenzen and others.

Turning to the long-term picture, Slusser also notes that prospect Bryce Eldridge will just be a first baseman for now. He was drafted last year, 16th overall, as a two-way player but it seems he’ll be putting pitching aside for the time being. “We haven’t ruled anything out there, but this year the focus is first base,” general manager Pete Putila says. “We’re super excited about the bat and we want him to get as many plate appearances as possible.”

After the draft last summer, Eldridge got into 16 Complex League games and 15 Single-A games. He hit .294/.400/.505 in 130 plate appearances but didn’t pitch. Prospect evaluators are generally more keen on his abilities as a hitter and it seems the Giants are as well. Listed at 6’7″ and 223 pounds, he played right field last year but will now be moving to first, which is where some evaluators expect him to wind up in the future.

Tigers Claim TJ Hopkins, Designate Kolton Ingram

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The Tigers announced that they have claimed outfielder TJ Hopkins off waivers from the Giants. In a corresponding move, left-hander Kolton Ingram has been designated for assignment.

Hopkins, 27, had spent his entire career with the Reds until a few months ago but has been riding the roster carousel a bit lately. Cincy designated him for assignment in December and then flipped him to the Giants for cash. He stuck on the Giants’ roster for about two months before getting bumped off last week. After a week in DFA limbo, he’s now landed with the Tigers.

The right-handed hitter made his major league debut last year but it wasn’t especially strong. He hit just .171/.227/.171 for the year, though in a tiny sample of 44 plate appearances. His work in Triple-A was much more encouraging. He drew a walk in 14% of his 393 plate appearances and also launched 16 home runs. His .308/.411/.514 batting line translated to a wRC+ of 134, indicating he was 34% better than the league average.

Hopkins has mostly played left field in his career but has seen decent amounts of playing time at all three outfield spots. The Tigers have an outfield/designated hitter mix that skews left-handed, as each of Parker Meadows, Riley Greene, Kerry Carpenter and Akil Baddoo hit from that side. The club acquired Mark Canha to give them a bit of right-handed ballast but Hopkins will provide them with a depth option. He still has two option years and can be kept in Triple-A until he forces his way back to the big leagues or an opening appears.

As for Ingram, 27, he also made a small-sample debut in the majors last year, tossing 5 1/3 innings for the Angels. He allowed five earned runs in that time, striking out seven batters but also giving out five walks. He spent most of the year on the farm, splitting his time between Double-A and Triple-A. Between those two levels, he combined for 64 innings with a 2.81 ERA. His 31.1% strikeout rate is eye-catching but his 13.1% walk rate concerning.

The Halos designated him for assignment when they signed Aaron Hicks and the Tigers grabbed him off waivers in the first week of February, though he’s now been bumped off the roster a couple of weeks later. The Tigers will have one week to trade Ingram or pass him through waivers. Left-handed relief is always in demand and he still has a couple of option years, so he could be attractive to any club looking to bolster its bullen depth. If he were to pass through waivers unclaimed, he would stick with the Tigers in a non-roster capacity.

Yankees Have Offer Out To Blake Snell

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It was reported over the weekend that the Yankees are still interested in free agent left-hander Blake Snell. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com relays today that the club currently has an offer out to the lefty, though adds that the Angels and Giants are still possibilities. Despite that offer, Andy Martino of SNY threw some cold water on the proceedings, suggesting there’s not much momentum to getting a deal done at the moment.

There’s also a report today from Brendan Kuty and Chris Kirschner at The Athletic indicating that the club has made an offer to the southpaw with no opt-outs. It’s clear in the article that the offer in question was made to Snell prior to the club signing Marcus Stroman. The Yankees reportedly offered Snell $150MM over six years back in January, but the lefty was looking for either a longer deal or one with an average annual value of $30MM or more.

MLBTR predicted Snell for a seven-year, $200MM deal at the start of the offseason but his lingering on the market for months has led to some speculation he would consider a short-term deal, a possibility MLBTR recently explored.

The details of this current offer from the Yankees aren’t known, but it seems unlikely it’s of the short-term, high AAV type. The report from Kuty and Kirschner highlights that the club may not be in the best position to take the high AAV route because of their competitive balance tax status. Per Roster Resource, the club’s CBT number is $307MM, already beyond the fourth and final tier of $297MM. As a third-time payor at that level, any further spending comes with a 110% tax.

This would make it difficult for the club to get creative with Snell. Per the example used by Kuty and Kirschner, giving Snell a $40MM salary on a short-term deal would also come with $44MM in taxes, meaning the club would effectively be paying $84MM to get him on the roster this year.

This highlights the tricky position Snell is in at the moment. He is obviously incredibly talented, having just won a Cy Young last year after posting a 2.25 ERA with the Padres. That makes him very attractive but clubs may not want to commit to him for a long tenure given his inconsistency. From 2019 to 2022, in between Cy Young wins, he had a 3.85 ERA and never got to 130 innings pitched in any of those campaigns. As good as he was last year, he had to pitch around a 13.3% walk rate and got help from a .256 batting average on balls in play and 86.7% strand rate.

That lack of reliability could push some clubs to preferring a short-term deal but many contenders are over the CBT and face significant taxes, such as the Yankees, while others have budgetary limitations due to the bankruptcy of Diamond Sports Group and uncertainty around TV revenue. The January offer from the Yanks came with an AAV of $25MM and perhaps their new offer adds an extra year or a little bit more money. With Martino suggesting nothing is close to getting done, perhaps it’s not significantly different from last month’s offer.

Even if there are some clubs with a bit of powder dry at this late stage of the winter, there are still lots of free agents out there, with Boras representing all of the top names. In addition to Snell, he’s also looking to get deals done for Matt Chapman, Cody Bellinger, Jordan Montgomery, J.D. Martinez, Hyun Jin Ryu and more. Finding significant deals for all of those guys will be an interesting juggling act for Boras, as getting a deal done for one guy might have the domino effect of closing off the earning potential of another.

The Yankees have an on-paper rotation that is strong with Gerrit Cole backed up by Carlos Rodón, Stroman, Nestor Cortes and Clarke Schmidt. That’s a great group if everyone is healthy but each of Rodón, Stroman and Cortes missed significant time last year. The club also subtracted depth by including four starting pitchers in the Juan Soto trade. Signing Snell or some other starter could bump Schmidt down to sixth on the chart and into the minors, as he still has an option remaining.

Giants Had Interest In Kevin Kiermaier

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  • The Padres, Twins, Yankees, and Angels were linked to Kevin Kiermaier’s market before the outfielder re-signed with the Blue Jays, but Kiermaier told MLB.com’s Jon Paul Morosi that the Cubs, Dodgers, and Giants also had interest.  Kiermaier and his family’s love of Toronto and his Jays teammates ultimately sealed his return to the Blue Jays, though it’s interesting to speculate how the four-time Gold Glover might’ve fit into his other suitors’ plans.  Adding Kiermaier would’ve given the Cubs some flexibility if Pete Crow-Armstrong wasn’t ready for a starting role just yet, while depending on the timing, the Dodgers might not have re-signed Jason Heyward if Kiermaier had instead been added to the fold.  Signing Kiermaier likely wouldn’t have prevented the Giants from signing Jung Hoo Lee, though Lee might’ve been ticketed for more time as a corner outfielder than in center.

Giants Notes: Soler, Lineups, Transactions, Slater, Zaidi

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The Giants’ three-year, $42MM contract with Jorge Soler was finalized and announced earlier today, so Soler, manager Bob Melvin and president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi were now officially able to discuss the deal with the media.  Melvin told reporters (including the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser and NBC Sports Bay Area’s Alex Pavlovic) that Thairo Estrada and Wilmer Flores played a key role in helping recruit Soler, as the three players are friends.  This helped lure Soler to San Francisco and the West Coast in general, as Soler’s preference was to stay on the East Coast, ideally close to his home in Miami.

Soler will now head west for the first time in his career, after playing with the Cubs, Royals, Braves, and Marlins during his 10 previous Major League seasons.  Though Soler’s production has tended to vary wildly over his career, he comes to the Giants on the high of hitting .250/.341/.512 with 36 homers for the Marlins in 2023, bringing some needed pop to San Francisco’s lineup.

This power naturally lends itself to the cleanup spot, and Melvin said that Soler will primarily hit fourth in the batting order and act as the regular designated hitter.  New arrival Jung Hoo Lee will hit leadoff and be the everyday center fielder, flanked on the grass by Michael Conforto in left field and Mike Yastrzemski in right.  Since both corner outfielders are left-handed hitters, Soler might get some time out of the DH spot when a southpaw is on the mound, though Melvin sees the DH role as a natural way to keep Soler healthy and free of the nagging injuries that have bothered him in recent years.

In general, it seems like the Giants are going with at least slightly more of a regular lineup under Melvin, as opposed to the matchup-centric style of revolving lineups favored by former manager Gabe Kapler.  There are still some obvious platoon or timeshare possibilities built into the roster, including Austin Slater’s role as a right-handed hitting complement to the lefty-heavy starting outfield.  However, Melvin said Slater is a little behind the other outfielders in spring work, as Slater spent the offseason recovering from right elbow surgery in October.  It doesn’t seem like Slater is in danger of missing Opening Day, though Melvin said Luis Matos will get some extra work as a center fielder.

Since it’s only mid-February, the chance still exists that the Giants might yet add another regular to the mix via free agency or trade.  Though some gamesmanship must be acknowledge whenever an executive says they’re happy with their team, Zaidi inferred that further moves to the big league roster were unlikely, if not impossible.

“It’s a little bit more disruptive to add at this point.  Anybody who’s a free agent, we’ve theoretically had three and a half months to figure out a deal and if it hasn’t happened yet, at some point organizationally, you just need to turn the page and focus on the players you have,” Zaidi said.  “You never rule anything out, whether it’s now or May or June or whatever, but you know, at this point, the calendar makes any further additions unlikely.”

The Giants’ offseasons under Zaidi have largely been defined by the superstar players they didn’t sign (i.e. Bryce Harper, Aaron Judge, Carlos Correa, Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto) than the players they did acquire, leading to some consternation amongst the Bay Area fanbase.  Still, Slusser notes that the Giants’ signings of Soler, Lee, Jordan Hicks, and Tom Murphy ranked the team second behind only the Dodgers in free agent spending, and San Francisco also completed a major trade in acquiring Robbie Ray from the Mariners.

Zaidi defended the Giants’ pursuits this winter, saying “we’re going to continue to take the big swing in free agency when it makes sense and some of the guys that we’ve pursued and have landed are top five-10 players in baseball.  I’ve said this about a couple of them: I’m always surprised there aren’t more teams in on them rather than that maybe they wind up somewhere else.  You expect things like this to be competitive and we always feel like we have to be able to pivot when things don’t work out.  We think we’ve added some exciting players and I think we feel that energy in camp.”

Giants Sign Jorge Soler

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Feb 18: The Giants officially announced Soler’s deal this afternoon. The slugger will received a $9MM signing bonus in addition to $7MM in salary for the 2024 season and $13MM salaries for each of the 2025 and 2026 seasons. To make room for Soler on the club’s 40-man roster, right-hander Austin Warren was placed on the 60-day injured list.

Feb 13, 6:58AM: Soler’s contract with San Francisco guarantees the slugger $42MM, according to Mike Rodriguez (X Link). The deal is a nearly exact match with MLBTR’s prediction of a three-year, $45MM pact for Soler back in November as part of our annual Top 50 MLB free agents list.

1:02AM: The Giants have agreed to a three-year deal with free agent designated hitter/outfielder Jorge Soler, reports Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. The agreement is pending a physical. Soler is a client of the MVP Sports Group.

Talks between Soler and the Giants have been going on for at least the past week. As of this morning, the Giants were still reported to be in the mix but had balked at Soler’s request for a third guaranteed season. That, it seems, has changed over the course of the day.

Soler, 32, opted out of the final season of his three-year, $36MM deal with the Marlins back in November after belting 36 home runs while hitting .250/.341/.512 on the season (126 wRC+). Soler posted the second-best walk and strikeout rates of his career at 11.4% and 24.3%, respectively, and Statcast pegged him in the 81st percentile or better in average exit velocity, hard-hit rate and barrel rate.

It’s the type of power profile that the Giants have lacked in recent years. The 2023 Giants ranked 19th in the Majors in home runs (174), 24th in runs scored (674), 28th in average (.235), 24th in on-base percentage (.312) and 27th in slugging percentage (.383). The Giants notoriously haven’t had a player deliver a 30-homer season since Barry Bonds in 2004, and they’ve only had one 20-homer hitter in their lineup in each of the past two seasons (Joc Pederson with 23 in 2022 and Wilmer Flores with 23 last year).

Soler brings a wholly different brand of power. Last year’s 36 big flies were only the second-most he’s hit in a season. Soler paced the American League with 48 homers for the Royals back in 2019, and while injuries have limited him to just two 30-homer seasons in his career, he’s averaged 32 homers per 162 games played in his career. Dating back to that 2019 breakout, Soler ranks 17th among 302 qualified hitters with a .248 isolated power mark (slugging minus batting average). Overall, he’s batted .240/.331/.488 during that time.

The path Soler takes to get to his production isn’t the most straightforward. He’s a streaky hitter in-season and a volatile one from a year-to-year standpoint, with his 2019 and 2023 output teetering on excellent while his 2022 numbers were decidedly below average. Even in the 2021 season that saw Soler catch fire following a trade to Atlanta and go on to be named World Series MVP, he was hitting just .198/.288/.377 in 360 plate appearances at the time Kansas City traded him. He slashed .269/.358/.524 following the change of scenery. A three-year deal with Soler figures to come with its share of peaks and valleys, but he’s the type of bat who can near-singlehandedly carry a lineup for brief stretches, given his top-of-the-scale power.

Though he has plenty of experience in the outfield corners, Soler isn’t likely to see much time there in San Francisco. His defensive grades have continue to decline over the years, and the Marlins only played him sparingly in right field — including just 241 innings last year. Soler has only twice reached 500 defensive innings played in a season. He’ll serve as the Giants’ primary designated hitter, though it’s possible he’ll make occasional appearances in left or right field.

That’s particularly true given that Soler does offer a nice right-handed complement to left-handed corner outfielders like Michael Conforto and Mike Yastrzemski. Production against left-handed pitchers, in particular, was a problem for the 2023 Giants (.245/.306/.376). Soler’s mammoth .277/.393/.688 output against lefties last year represents an enormous boost to San Francisco in such situations.

Adding Soler to the lineup likely cuts into the playing time for J.D. Davis and/or Wilmer Flores against right-handed opponents, but that’s a trio of potent right-handed bats to be able to trot out against opposing southpaws. New backup catcher Tom Murphy (career 126 wRC+ against lefties) should help in that regard as well, as will a full season of switch-hitting catcher Patrick Bailey, who feasted off lefties but struggled against righties. Broadly speaking, the San Francisco lineup looks far more equipped to handle left-handed pitching than last year’s club.

At $14MM per year for Soler, the slugger’s decision to opt out his final year and $13MM in Miami was overwhelmingly the right call. Miami opted not to issue a qualifying offer to Soler, so they won’t receive any draft compensation for his departure, nor will San Francisco be required to forfeit a draft pick or any international money.

Prior to the deal with Soler, San Francisco’s rough $155MM payroll was more than $33MM from their 2023 levels and more than $46MM south of the team’s franchise-record payroll level. That leaves plenty of room for the Giants front office to remain aggressive in free agency, even if ownership isn’t willing to set a new highwater mark on player payroll. That’s true even if the dollars are evenly distributed over the life of the three-year term, but if the deal is at all backloaded there’ll be perhaps a bit more to work with for the upcoming season.

To that end, it’s worth noting that the Giants have been linked to high-profile names like Blake Snell, Matt Chapman and Jordan Montgomery in recent weeks. A deal with Soler shouldn’t preclude them from continuing those pursuits, although with Soler now penciled in as the primary DH, a Chapman signing could perhaps be a precursor to a trade of J.D. Davis. Time will tell whether that’s worth pondering much or goes down as one of many unanswered offseason hypotheticals. Regardless, it seems quite likely that Soler’s signing won’t be the Giants’ last significant addition this winter.

Giants To Sign Pablo Sandoval To Non-Roster Deal

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Veteran infielder Pablo Sandoval is set to reunite with the Giants this spring, as reported by Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area this afternoon. Sandoval is expected to join the club on a minor league deal with a non-roster invitation to big league Spring Training. Pavlovic makes clear that Sandoval’s situation is different from that of longtime Giants reliever Sergio Romo last year. Back in March, Romo returned to San Francisco on a non-roster deal of his own with a plan for it to be a ceremonial final stop before retirement. Pavlovic indicates that Sandoval, by contrast, is hoping to make a comeback after last appearing in the majors back in 2021.

The 37-year-old veteran began his professional career with the Giants as a 17-year-old back in 2004. He made his big league debut with the club back in 2008 and went on to win three World Series championships with the club before departing for the Red Sox via free agency ahead of the 2015 season. Sandoval’s stay in Boston would be fairly shortly-lived, however, as he struggled with injuries and ineffectiveness over parts of three seasons with the Red Sox before the club designated him for assignment in July of 2017. He re-signed with the Giants just days later and spent the next three years in a bench role with the club, slashing a league-average .253/.308/.437 in 642 trips to the plate in a Giants uniform from 2018 to 2020.

Sandoval parted ways with the Giants for a second time late in the shortened 2020 campaign, and after being released by the club latched on with the Braves. He made one appearance for Atlanta during the stretch run before returning for the 2021 season, where he contributed off the bench in 69 games before he was traded to Cleveland in exchange for Eddie Rosario just before that year’s trade deadline. Sandoval was released immediately following the trade without making an appearance for his new club. Since his last big league opportunity, Sandoval has appeared in several leagues in Latin America, including a 91-game stint in the Mexican League back in 2022. The Panda last appeared in a professional game in Dubai last fall.

Given the fact that Sandoval is just a few months shy of his 38th birthday and hasn’t played in affiliated ball since the 2021 season, he’s surely a longshot to make the club’s 40-man roster entering the season. The odds appear particularly long given the club’s plethora of options at the infield corners, including J.D. Davis, Wilmer Flores, and LaMonte Wade Jr. With that being said, the switch-hitting veteran sports a career .285/.337/.457 slash line across parts of 11 seasons in San Francisco and will surely bring his energy and veteran presence to the Giants clubhouse this spring, whether he manages to secure a role on the club’s bench for the 2024 campaign or not.

MLBTR Podcast: Jorge Soler, Veteran Catcher Signings and the Padres’ Payroll Crunch

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • Which teams do you think have a chance to exceed expectations this year like the Diamondbacks and Reds did last year? (26:00)
  • Matt Chapman to the Cubs for one year and $27MM plus a $30MM mutual option for 2025 with a $3MM buyout, who says no? (30:40)
  • Does Carlos Santana make the Twins better? (34:00)

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Giants Sign Austin Warren To Major League Deal

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The Giants announced to reporters, including Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, that they have signed right-hander Austin Warren to a one-year major league deal. Lefty Robbie Ray was transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Slusser adds that Warren, a client of the Ballengee Group, will make $755K this year. That’s just barely over this year’s $740K league minimum.

Warren, 28, was designated for assignment by the Angels last week. He underwent Tommy John surgery in May of last year and is still recovering. Since injured players can’t be put on outright waivers, the Angels had to either trade him or release him and opted for the latter.

The righty has 32 games of major league experience, dating from his 2021 debut to the early parts of the 2023 season prior to his surgery. He has a 3.55 earned run average in his 38 innings, striking out just 19.4% of opponents but walking just 6.3% of them and keeping 44.3% of balls in play on the ground.

Over the past three years, he’s tossed 92 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level, pitching for the Salt Lake Bees in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. In that time, he had a 3.50 ERA, 24.4% strikeout rate, 10.2% walk rate and kept roughly half of batted balls down in the dirt.

The Giants are clearly hoping that he can return from his Tommy John layoff in good form. Assuming they don’t expect him back in the first two months of the season, he will be transferred to the 60-day IL once the club needs his roster spot. Once activated, he has a couple of minor league options and can be kept in Triple-A if he doesn’t earn his way into the big league picture.

The bullpen in San Francisco would appear to have some innings available. Camilo Doval, Taylor Rogers, Tyler Rogers and Luke Jackson will be in four spots. Apart from that, none of the other relievers on the roster have even a year of service time. If Warren is still on the 40-man at season’s end, he can be retained for future seasons as he currently has just under two years of major league service time.

Giants Acquire Otto López, Designate TJ Hopkins

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9:48pm: López still has one minor league option remaining, reports Andrew Baggarly of the Athletic (on X). That affords San Francisco the freedom to send him to Triple-A without putting him on waivers.

2:07pm: The Giants have acquired infielder/outfielder Otto López from the Blue Jays, per announcements from both clubs. The Blue Jays, who designated López for assignment last week, receive cash considerations in return. In order to open a spot on their roster, the Giants designated outfielder TJ Hopkins for assignment.

López, 25, was designated for assignment by the Blue Jays when the team finalized its five-year deal with right-hander Yariel Rodriguez. The right-handed hitter has appeared in sparse MLB action over the past two seasons. He’s 6-for-10 during that time (all singles) but has spent the bulk of his 2022-23 seasons in Triple-A Buffalo. He had a big year at the plate with Buffalo in ’22, hitting .297/.378/.415 in 391 plate appearances, but López declined across the board this past season, slashing just .258/.313/.343 in a comparable amount of playing time.

While López has long rated among the Jays’ top 30 prospects due to a plus hit tool and above-average speed, he has bottom-of-the-scale power (seven homers in 931 Triple-A plate appearances). He’s punched out in just 15% of his Triple-A plate appearances but hasn’t walked at an especially high clip (8.3%). And for all the speed he possesses, López’s 70.8% success rate in 518 minor league games (90-for-127) is below average.

López brings some versatility to the Giants’ bench, but he also adds another right-handed bat to an infield mix that’s already crowded with such options. He’s played second base, shortstop, third base and all three outfield positions, though scouts question whether he has the arm to play on the left side of the diamond. He’ll be in the mix for playing time alongside J.D. Davis, Wilmer Flores and Thairo Estrada around the infield — if he sticks on the 40-man roster. It’s also possible the Giants simply try to pass López through waivers, which would allow them to keep him in the organization at Triple-A without dedicating a 40-man roster spot.

Hopkins, 27, made his MLB debut this past season with the Reds and went 7-for-41 (all singles) with a pair of walks and 17 strikeouts in 44 plate appearances. It was hardly an eye-catching debut, but the 2019 ninth-rounder’s production in Triple-A Louisville was far more intriguing. In his first full season at the top minor league level, Hopkins delivered a robust .308/.411/.514 batting line with a 14% walk rate, 23.9% strikeout rate, 16 home runs, 18 doubles, a triple and a pair of steals. Cincinnati designated him for assignment in December, and the Giants acquired him in exchange for cash.

Hopkins has played primarily left field in his professional career but has plenty of experience in right field and center field as well. He’s been an average or better hitter at every minor league stop and steadily improved both his walk and strikeout rates as he’s climbed the minor league ladder. He still has a pair of minor league options remaining. That could make him an intriguing fit for clubs seeking low-cost right-handed-hitting options to add to the outfield mix. The Red Sox, Twins and Padres are among the teams in that boat. San Francisco will have a week to trade Hopkins or attempt to pass him through outright waivers.

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