Giants Place Brandon Crawford On Injured List, Release Paul DeJong
The Giants announced a slate of roster moves Thursday, most notably placing shortstop Brandon Crawford on the 10-day injured list due to a hamstring strain and requesting unconditional release waivers on fellow shortstop Paul DeJong. San Francisco has also selected the contract of infielder/outfielder Tyler Fitzgerald, recalled right-hander Tristan Beck and infielder Marco Luciano from Triple-A Sacramento, and optioned right-hander Sean Hjelle to Sacramento. Crawford will be eligible for reinstatement on the final day of the season.
Crawford, 36, exited yesterday’s contest after experiencing discomfort and acknowledged his frustration with the injury following the game (link via Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle). A free agent at season’s end, Crawford is perhaps playing out his final days as a Giant. That he’s eligible to return on the final game of the season could give him the opportunity to still get back in front of the home crowd for a potential sendoff. The Giants host their archrival Dodgers on Oct. 1. “It’s the most frustrating timing I’ve probably ever had with an injury,” Crawford told Slusser.
The 2023 season has been the least-productive of Crawford’s career. He’s posted a .197/.276/.319 batting line with a career-high 25% strikeout rate in 316 plate appearances. It’s a step down from last year’s output and a major departure from the 2021 season, when Crawford was a bona fide MVP candidate, placing fourth in the National League voting that year. Crawford’s .298/.373/.522 slash and world-class defense in ’21 prompted the Giants to sign him to a two-year, $32MM extension covering his age-35 and age-36 seasons, but he’s batted just .217/.295/.334 in 774 plate appearances over the life of that contract.
It’s not clear whether Crawford will continue his playing career beyond the current season. He’s spoken in the past about the possibility of spending his entire career with the Giants, which surely holds extra appeal given that he’s a Bay Area native who grew up following the team. However, Luciano has ranked among the organization’s top prospects for several years now and could be ready for a full-time audition.
It’s possible the Giants could bring in a stopgap in the event that the 22-year-old still needs more minor league seasoning, but that’d likely be an awkward role for both Crawford and the organization; it’s feasible he could shift to a bench role if and when Luciano proves ready, but it’d be hard for the Giants to carry Crawford in a part-time role if his production mirrors his 2023 output. Similarly, it’d be hard for them to move on somewhat unceremoniously midway through the ’24 campaign. The Giants faced a similar situation with Crawford’s longtime teammate Brandon Belt this past offseason and ultimately opted to let him walk. Belt signed a one-year deal with the Blue Jays and has had a highly productive but also injury-marred season.
There was no such commitment or legacy to ponder in the decision to cut ties with the veteran DeJong. San Francisco signed the former Cardinals shortstop to a Major League deal one month ago after he was released by the Blue Jays, who’d acquired him at the deadline when Bo Bichette sustained an injury.
DeJong gave the Giants 114 innings of strong defense at shortstop but hit just .184/.180/.286 in 50 plate appearances. He had a relative bounceback year at the plate with the Cardinals prior to his trade, but since leaving St. Louis he’s batted a combined .129/.128/.183 with no walks and 34 strikeouts in 94 plate appearances between Toronto and San Francisco. He’ll be a free agent once he formally clears release waivers, although at this point of the schedule, he may simply wait until the offseason to find a new club.
Fitzgerald, 26, was the Giants’ fourth-round pick in 2019 and will be making his big league debut when he first takes the field. He’s had a nice season in the minors, batting .324/.410/.588 in a small sample of 78 Double-A plate appearances before moving up to Triple-A and hitting .287/.358/.499 in 466 trips to the plate. Fitzgerald has smacked a combined 22 home runs and swiped 32 bags in 35 tries this year. His 9.7% walk rate in Triple-A is an above-average mark, while his 23.8% strikeout rate was also slightly higher than average.
San Francisco has bounced Fitzgerald all over the diamond in 2023. He’s logged time at shortstop, second base, third base and in center field this season, in addition to occasional stints at designated hitter. While he’s never been considered one of the Giants’ top prospects, Fitzgerald has been an above-average hitter at virtually every minor league stop and clearly possesses above-average speed (career 70-for-79 in stolen bases). He’ll add a versatile defensive repertoire and right-handed bat to the club’s bench mix.
Giants Place Alex Cobb, Keaton Winn On Injured List
The Giants have placed right-hander Alex Cobb on the 15-day injured list, formally ending his season. Cobb has been dealing with a left hip impingement that will now end his regular season. Fellow righty Keaton Winn has also been placed on the injured list, and manager Gabe Kapler confirmed to reporters that Winn has Covid-19 (via Maria Guardado of MLB.com). Left-hander Kyle Harrison and righty Sean Hjelle are up from Triple-A Sacramento in their place.
The 35-year-old Cobb — 36 next month — has started 28 games and pitched to a 3.87 ERA in 151 1/3 innings for the Giants in 2023. He’s playing out the second season of a two-year, $20MM contract that has proven to be a bargain thus far. The Giants hold a $10MM option for the 2024 season, which comes with a $2MM buyout. Given that it’s a net $8MM decision, that ought to be a veritable lock to be exercised, provided there’s no concern about a long-term injury at play.
The Giants haven’t formally been eliminated from the postseason yet, and Kapler wouldn’t rule out the possibility of Cobb returning if the Giants can defy their slim playoff odds and overcome the three-game deficit they face in the NL’s Wild Card race (via Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle).
Cobb started 28 games in both guaranteed years of the contract and will finish that portion of the deal with a 3.80 ERA, 22.1% strikeout rate, 6.3% walk rate and 59.4% ground-ball rate in 301 innings. Though these have been the 11th and 12th seasons of Cobb’s big league career, he’s throwing harder than ever before in his mid-30s, averaging 95.2 mph on his heater after previously averaging 91.7 mph in his career between the Rays, Orioles and Angels.
Winn, 25, made his big league debut this year and appeared in eight games — four of them starts — pitching a total of 37 innings with a 3.89 ERA, 20% strikeout rate, 5.3% walk rate and 56.9% ground-ball rate. The 2018 fifth-rounder averaged 96 mph on his fastball and draws high praise for his splitter as well. He’s likely put himself into the mix for a rotation spot next year, depending on the outcome of Cobb’s option and the extent to which the Giants address the starting staff over the winter.
White Sox Expected To Hire Josh Barfield, Brian Bannister, Gene Watson To Front Office Roles
Diamondbacks director of player development Josh Barfield is expected to leave the D’Backs for a new job in the White Sox front office, according to MLB.com’s Scott Merkin and Steve Gilbert (X link). Barfield will step into the role of assistant general manager, under newly-hired Sox GM Chris Getz.
Barfield isn’t the only newcomer to Getz’s staff, as USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (via X) reports that the White Sox have also hired Brian Bannister for a role in pitching development and Gene Watson for a player development job. Bannister has worked as the Giants’ director of pitching since December 2019, while Watson was an assistant GM and VP of Major League scouting with the Royals.
Fans may know the 40-year-old Barfield best from his playing career, as he appeared in 309 Major League games with San Diego and Cleveland from 2006-09. He continued playing in the minors and in independent ball until 2013, and then started his post-playing career as a scout with the D’Backs in 2016, moving his way up the front office depth chart until assuming his current role during the 2019-20 offseason.
Bannister is another former player, tossing 667 1/3 innings with the Mets and Royals from 2006-10. (Notably, Getz and Bannister were teammates in Kansas City in 2010.) Since retiring, the 42-year-old Bannister worked from the Red Sox from 2015-19 in a variety of roles, ranging from scout, to assistant pitching coach, to a more analytical front office position as a director of pitching analysis and development. This led to a similar position in San Francisco, as Bannister worked in a uniformed on-field role except in 2022, when league rules didn’t permit Bannister to participate in his coaching role because he wasn’t vaccinated.
Watson also has some past Kansas City ties to Getz and Bannister, as Watson has worked for the Royals for all but one season from 2006-23, as Watson worked for the Angels in 2021. A longtime scout and evaluator, Watson has also worked with the Padres, Braves, and Marlins during a career that began back in 1997. Watson has been interviewed for GM jobs in the past, including the Angels’ opening in 2021 that eventually went to Perry Minasian, though the Halos were impressed enough to still hire Watson away from K.C. for an advisory position.
The three hires bring some fresh voices into the White Sox front office, giving Getz (who has been working for Chicago since 2016) some different perspective as he embarks on his first stint running a baseball operations department. Getz’s promotion continued the criticism that the Sox organization is too insular in its thinking, but today’s hires act as something of a counter to the idea that the White Sox are set in their ways. Barfield and Bannister, like Getz, are younger executives with past playing experience who perhaps have a bit more of a modern analytical approach to player development, whereas Watson brings some old-school scouting knowledge into the fold.
NL West Notes: Hazen, Red Sox, Cobb, Freeland
The Red Sox have started looking for a new front office boss, and a familiar face might be on their radar since ESPN’s Buster Olney (X link) reports that Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen “is one of the names discussed” as a potential candidate. Hazen is a Massachusetts native and he previously worked for the Sox from 2006-16, including a stint as the club’s general manager during the 2016 season. Hazen was the top lieutenant under president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski that year before Arizona hired him away to lead their front office.
Hazen’s time in the desert has included the lows of two brutal seasons in 2020-21, and the highs of a playoff appearance in 2017, three winning records in six full seasons, and a club that is fighting for another postseason berth with a 79-72 record this year. Between this season’s success and the wealth of quality young talent in Arizona’s farm system, Hazen might not necessarily be too eager to consider a job change, especially considering that the D’Backs have him under contract through the 2024 season (with a club option for 2025).
As Olney notes, Hazen could potentially leverage any interest from the Red Sox into a new extension from the D’Backs, though one would imagine that Arizona was already looking to retain an executive who has seemingly gotten the team back on track. Since the Diamondbacks would have to give permission for Hazen to be interviewed by another club, it’s possible Boston’s interest might go unexplored if the D’Backs aren’t willing to give that consent. It also isn’t known if Hazen is seen as a prime candidate for the Sox, or if they were doing some natural due diligence early in their front office search on an experienced executive with many past Boston ties.
More from around the NL West…
- Alex Cobb recently revealed that he has been pitching through hip discomfort for over three months, though he has still posted a respectable 4.20 ERA over his last 13 starts and 70 2/3 innings pitched. The Giants have been trying to manage the injury with a cortisone shot and some extra rest, as Cobb had eight days between his most recent two starts, and will be working on eight more days of rest when he is scheduled to take the mound Tuesday for a big game with the Diamondbacks. Cobb underwent hip surgery in 2019, though he told Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle that he doesn’t believe he’ll need another procedure to address his current impingement (which is in his left hip, whereas his right hip previously received the surgical repair). However, Cobb did add “I should get more clarity on it, honestly,” which is something of an ominous admission for the veteran hurler. Trying to tough it out carries some extra risk for Cobb since he technically isn’t under contract for 2024 — San Francisco holds a $10MM club option ($2MM buyout) on his services for next year.
- The Rockies placed left-hander Kyle Freeland on the 15-day injured list today due to a right oblique strain, so Freeland won’t pitch again during the 2023 season. The oblique injury forced Freeland to make an early exit from Saturday’s game, and continued the season-long string of pitching injuries that has devastated the Rockies’ staff. It was a frustrating year overall for the veteran southpaw, who posted a 5.03 ERA and one of the sport’s lowest strikeout rates (13.9%) over 155 2/3 innings.
Quick Hits: Tigers, Pederson, Bieber, McKenzie, Rockies
The Tigers could potentially have a new general manager in place before the end of the season, MLB Network’s Jon Morosi reports via X. It was almost exactly a year ago that Scott Harris was hired as the club’s new president of baseball operations, though the GM role (effectively Harris’ top lieutenant) has remained vacant, despite an ongoing search and the fact that Detroit has three assistant GMs in Sam Menzin, Rob Metzler, and Jay Sartori. It remains to be seen if the Tigers might promote from within or look to someone from outside the organization to act as Harris’ official second-in-command.
There hasn’t been much news on the GM search or Harris’ hiring preferences, as he said back in June that the process had taken a back seat to more pressing matters, such as preparation for the amateur draft and presumably the trade deadline in short order afterwards. It could also be that Harris has someone in particular in mind who is currently under contract with another organization, and had to wait until closer to the end of the 2023 season to engage in negotiations. Or, since Harris was viewing his first season with the Tigers as an evaluation process on and off the field, he might have a better sense of what he wants in a GM after a year of gauging the club’s pluses and minuses.
More from around the baseball world…
- After two seasons with the Giants, Joc Pederson is eager for a third, telling the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser that “I really like it here. It’s a great group of guys. I love the way they run the organization.” Pederson’s big 2022 campaign led the Giants to issue him a qualifying offer after the season, and Pederson opted to take the one-year, $19.65MM rather than test the market in search of a longer or more lucrative deal. Pederson is again eligible for free agency this winter, and will face a more limited market since his 2023 numbers (.245/.355/.421 with 13 homers over 383 plate appearances) have been more good than great, and Pederson brings little batting value against left-handed pitching or defensive value as a corner outfielder. That said, Pederson also has some of the best hard-contact metrics of any hitter in the league, and since his .373 xwOBA outpaces his .340 wOBA by such a significant margin, there could be multiple teams interested in seeing if he can have better luck in 2024. San Francisco might be such a team, since the Giants’ love of platoons might be create a natural part-time for Pederson.
- Guardians starters Shane Bieber and Triston McKenzie each started rehab assignments with Double-A Akron this week, with Bieber’s next outing tentatively slated for tomorrow and McKenzie on Tuesday, as Guards manager Terry Francona told reporters (including Ryan Lewis of the Akron Beacon Journal). Both pitchers are on the 60-day injured list, as McKenzie has been out since June due to a right elbow sprain and Bieber since July because of right elbow inflammation. With only two weeks left in the regular season, the timing will be tight for either pitcher to make it back, and Cleveland’s dimming hopes at the AL Central title also make it possible that the team could just shut down Bieber or McKenzie out of caution. However, the two right-handers are still aiming to return, since as McKenzie put it, returning after the long IL stint would allow him to “go into the offseason with a calm mind.”
- The Rockies‘ seemingly nonstop flood of pitching injuries has continued today, with Kyle Freeland leaving today’s start after three innings due to what the club later announced as a mild right oblique strain. This came after Colorado already placed right-hander Peter Lambert on the 15-day IL prior to their doubleheader with the Giants, as Lambert is suffering from right biceps tendinitis. Lambert has a 5.36 ERA over 87 1/3 innings this year, after missing most of the previous three seasons due to injuries. Freeland has a 5.07 ERA and he leads the Rox with 155 2/3 innings pitched, though he also previously missed a bit of time on the IL with a minor shoulder issue in July. It is safe to assume that Lambert’s 2023 campaign is over, and Freeland is also probably done for the year unless his oblique strain ends up being very minor.
Giants’ Chairman: Zaidi/Kapler Will Return In 2024
Giants chairman Greg Johnson has gone on record a few times to express his support for the club’s baseball operations leadership. He reiterated that sentiment this evening, telling Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle that president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi and manager Gabe Kapler “will both be (in San Francisco) next year.”
It has been a streaky season for the Giants, who remain right on the edge of contention with two and a half weeks to go. San Francisco sits at 75-71, percentage points above the Diamondbacks and Reds for the last Wild Card spot in the National League. The Giants had gotten as high as 13 games above .500 shortly after the All-Star Break but are just 26-30 in the second half overall. That knocked them out of the playoff picture for a bit, though a recent 5-1 stretch coinciding with cold spells for a few teams above them has put the Giants back in a solid spot.
They’re looking for what would be the second playoff appearance of the Zaidi/Kapler era. Zaidi has been running baseball operations since the 2018-19 offseason; Kapler took over as skipper one year later. They stepped into a transitional period before a shocking 107-win campaign to snap the Dodgers’ streak of NL West titles with one of the best years in franchise history. L.A. vanquished the Giants in the Division Series, and San Francisco has been an average team since that point. They were exactly .500 last year and aren’t far above that mark this season.
San Francisco tried for an impact acquisition last offseason. Their pursuit of Aaron Judge came up short, while the Carlos Correa physical led that agreement to fall through. The Correa saga came after most of the other top free agents were off the board, leading San Francisco to pivot to the volume approach that has defined most of their past few winters. Signings of Michael Conforto, Mitch Haniger, Sean Manaea and Ross Stripling have all yielded middling results in their first seasons, though the addition of Taylor Rogers has mostly worked as anticipated.
The leadership’s track record goes well beyond this past offseason, of course. Prior acquisitions of Thairo Estrada, J.D. Davis and LaMonte Wade Jr. have all been strong low-cost additions. Wilmer Flores has provided four years of quality production since signing in free agency headed into 2020. They’ve felt the effects of missing out on a star position player — particularly as the offense has gone cold in the second half — though the lack of long-term payroll commitments could embolden them to make legitimate runs at Shohei Ohtani or Cody Bellinger this offseason.
Both Zaidi and Kapler are believed to be under contract for next year. Kapler signed an extension running through the ’24 campaign following their standout 2021 season (in which he was named NL Manager of the Year). Zaidi’s contract was a five-year guarantee that spanned through this year, though it also included a team option for the ’24 season. Slusser characterizes that provision more as a team opt-out clause which the organization bypassed when it was available to them a few months ago. Regardless of the specifics, it’s clear both Zaidi and Kapler will return — though they’d each enter the season in lame duck status unless they sign longer-term extensions over the winter.
Cole Waites Undergoes UCL Reconstruction Surgery
The Giants announced to reporters, including Maria I. Guardado of MLB.com, that right-hander Cole Waites underwent right elbow ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction surgery today. It’s unclear if it was a full Tommy John procedure or a modified internal brace procedure, but they list his timetable for return to play as 12 to 16 months.
Waites, 25, is already on the 60-day injured list. He was transferred there in July due to a right elbow sprain. There hadn’t been any updates on him in the past couple of months, but it seems that he and the club exhausted whatever non-surgical options they were considering and he will now go under the knife. He will miss the remainder of this season and quite likely all of the 2024 campaign.
Selected by the Giants in the 18th round of the 2019 draft, Waites has unfortunately been unable to log many innings since then. The minor leagues were wiped out by the pandemic in 2020 and then he required knee surgery in 2021. Despite those setbacks, he made it to the majors late last year and tossed 5 2/3 innings before adding another 2 1/3 this year. He currently has an earned run average of 6.75 in those eight big league innings and a mark of 3.76 in 103 minor league innings. He’s struck out 37.6% of minor league batters he’s faced but also walked 15.3%.
He will now have to battle through yet another significant setback, likely not pitching again until 2025, which will be his age-27 season. He will finish this year with less than a year of service time, meaning the Giants could potentially control him for another six years. But there’s no injured list in the offseason, meaning he would need to be added back onto the roster for the winter. Baseball America ranked him the #18 prospect in the system coming into the year, highlighting his triple-digit fastball.
Giants Release Johan Camargo
The Giants have released veteran infielder Johan Camargo, who’d been playing with their Triple-A club in Sacramento, per the transaction log at MiLB.com. Camargo briefly was summoned to the big league roster last month but passed through waivers unclaimed near the end of August and accepted an outright assignment back to Sacramento.
The two sides will now part ways, it seems. Camargo only signed on with the Giants in mid-August after spending time with the Triple-A affiliates of the Royals (who signed him to a minor league deal in the offseason) and the Tigers (who signed him to a minor league pact after he opted out of said Royals deal). The versatile 29-year-old has played in 51 Triple-A games this season between those three clubs, slashing a collective .250/.335/.429 in the process. He went 4-for-18 in his abbreviated big league look with the Giants.
Camargo has now logged big league time in each of the past seven seasons, albeit in sparing fashion over the past few years. He was an oft-used utilityman with the Braves from 2017-19, tallying 1028 plate appearances and batting .269/.328/.438 while spending time at all four outfield positions and in both outfield corners. The switch-hitter has played in just 110 MLB games and tallied 331 plate appearances in the four years since that time, turning in a far more tepid .209/.267/.314 output.
At this stage of the season, there’s no certainty that Camargo will sign on with a new club for the final few weeks. He’d be a free agent at season’s end unless a new team wanted to add him to the 40-man roster and control him via arbitration for next year, which seems unlikely after he just passed through waivers a few weeks ago. Even if he doesn’t sign with a new club before the offseason begins, Camargo ought to again command interest as a depth option in minor league free agency. He’s a .299/.372/.492 hitter in parts of six Triple-A seasons (totaling 1054 plate appearances) and has logged considerable time at shortstop (4750 innings), third base (3300 innings), second base (1039 innings) and first base (687 innings) in his professional career.
Giants Release Luis Gonzalez
The Giants are releasing outfielder Luis González, tweets Robert Murray of FanSided. He’ll head directly to free agency. González had already been outrighted off the 40-man roster after clearing waivers last month.
The lefty-swinging outfielder hasn’t appeared in the majors this season. González began the year on the injured list after undergoing back surgery in Spring Training. He was sidelined into August and immediately optioned to Triple-A upon his return. A week thereafter, the Giants designated him for assignment.
González, who turned 28 over the weekend, hasn’t found much of a rhythm in Triple-A. He’d hit .255/.355/.362 over 110 plate appearances for San Francisco’s top affiliate. While that’s a respectable line on the surface, it’s well below-average by measure of wRC+ in the context of a hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. His 11.8% walk rate and 18.2% strikeout percentage were each strong, but González has connected on only one home run.
San Francisco evidently decided they wouldn’t call him back to the majors this season. He would’ve qualified for minor league free agency at year’s end. The Giants will cut him loose a few weeks early.
While González is likely to be limited to minor league offers, he’ll surely find interest as a depth option going into 2024. The former third-round pick looked the part of a solid rotational outfield piece a year ago. He got into 98 games and picked up 350 plate appearances for the Giants in 2022, hitting .254/.322/.360 with decent strikeout and walk numbers. He didn’t hit for much power, but he swiped 10 bases in 12 attempts.
Ross Stripling Not Expecting To Opt Out Of Giants Deal
Giants right-hander Ross Stripling has the ability to return to free agency this offseason, as he can opt out of a $12.5MM salary for next year. However, the 33-year-old indicated this evening that he doesn’t anticipate heading back to the open market.
Stripling rather frankly told the team’s beat he “hasn’t pitched well enough to opt out” (relayed by Maria Guardado of MLB.com). While a blunt self-assessment, it’s not an especially surprising declaration. The veteran hurler has a 5.29 ERA over 78 1/3 innings on the season. That’s well off the 3.01 earned runs per nine which Stripling had allowed during his final year with the Blue Jays.
While he wasn’t especially overpowering even during his best seasons in Toronto, Stripling has lost a couple percentage points off his strikeout rate. He has still been one of the league’s best at avoiding free passes but has proven far too home run prone. Stripling has allowed 2.30 homers per nine, well above last year’s 0.80 HR/9 figure. Stripling had been susceptible to the longball in both 2020 and ’21.
In addition to the inconsistent production, Stripling has spent the past three weeks on the injured list with a back strain. It’s his second such IL stay of the year. He has expressed a bit of frustration with his status, telling reporters over the weekend he feels the club is keeping him on the IL beyond when he’s healthy enough to return because the team is reluctant to bump someone else off the roster. He reiterated today that he believes he’s ready for a return after throwing 50 pitches in a batting practice session.
Stripling is one of a handful of San Francisco players whose contracts have upcoming player options. Michael Conforto has an $18MM provision, while Sean Manaea will need to decide whether to retain a $12.5MM salary. Neither of those cases are as straightforward as Stripling’s, but both seem likely to return to San Francisco themselves. Conforto started slowly offensively. He’d seemed to find his stride midseason but has missed the past few weeks with a hamstring strain. Manaea lost his rotation spot early on and has worked mostly in multi-inning relief. Despite a solid 27.2% strikeout rate, he owns an even 5.00 ERA through 93 2/3 frames.