The Giants have agreed to a contract with free-agent outfielder Craig Gentry, MLBTR has confirmed. He’ll give the team some additional outfield depth following this week’s signing of veteran Gerardo Parra to a minor league pact.
Gentry, 35, spent the 2018 season with the Orioles organization and appeared in 68 games at the MLB level, tallying 169 plate appearances and hitting .269/.321/.346 along the way. Those numbers align rather closely with the .262/.333/.339 slash that Gentry has posted in parts of 10 big league seasons with the Rangers, Orioles, Athletics and Angels.
As is typical for Gentry, he didn’t bring much power to the table in 2018 but provided the O’s with quality outfield defense and plenty of speed. Gentry saw action at all three outfield spots and turned in strong defensive marks (+7 Defensive Runs Saved, +2.3 Ultimate Zone Rating, +3 Outs Above Average) in a small sample of 386 2/3 innings. He also swiped a dozen bases in 15 attempts and ranked in the 90th percentile of MLB players in terms of average sprint speed (28.9 ft/sec), per Statcast.
The right-handed-hitting Gentry doesn’t have glaring platoon splits but has generally handled left-handed pitching better than right-handed pitching (.711 OPS vs. .640 OPS). The Giants have plenty of uncertainty in the outfield, so it’s natural to see them bolster their depth. Young center fielder Steven Duggar is coming off shoulder surgery, and the other options on the 40-man roster — Mac Williamson, Austin Slater, Chris Shaw — all have some upside but are not yet proven big leaguers. The aforementioned Parra, too, will be in camp competing for a regular role. Offseason pickups John Andreoli and Mike Gerber are also in the organization as non-roster invitees to camp after the Giants were able to pass them through waivers.
Still working on the farm E I E I O
Haha nice one
Guess that takes them out of the running for Harper
overused joke
Not in this offseason!
One of those players that the word meh describes perfectly
Just like the rest of their roster.
lol that hurt
Oakland fans are so butthurt… lol. Bet you’d like to have Bumgarner in your rotation rather than Fiers, or Posey as your catcher rather than Hundley.
Bumgarner and Posey aren’t anything special anymore, age is both catching up to them. Bet you’d rather have our whole infield and outfield. Whole team is old and your farm system is bottom third easily.
Bumgarner isn’t what he was. Neither is Posey. Hundley only got a minor-league contract, so he was picked up as insurance/placeholder for Sean Murphy’s mid-season callup (much like Trevor Plouffe was for Matt Chapman).
It’s like the Giants don’t really have anything the A’s want.
Nope.
“Bumgarner isn’t what he was, neither is Posey” Still, a 3 ERA SP and a .300 hitter who is a gold glove defender. You wouldn’t want that?
Posey can barely catch nowadays and you still have belt on the books for a couple more years. Madbum has been hurt the last 2 years and is obviously declining if you watch him pitch. Only guy who giants fans should be excited about is Joey Bart.
Yeah I’m sure the A’s wouldn’t want Posey, MadBum, Crawford or Belt. Are you kidding me? Both Posey and Bum were fighting injuries last year. They’ll be better this year.
Olson> Belt by a mile. Crawford is the only position player I would consider taking over Semien and probably Posey if he could stay behind the dish. Posey’s days behind the dish are numbered that’s for sure.
Can’t wait for Kyle Murray!
7 career home runs after 10 years in the league, what’s not to like?
Not meh but smh? This is dumpster diving times 10. This guy’s a 100 years old.
Lol@dumpster diving. Love it
not to nitpick but it does say he is 35
haha, 35 is like 100 in baseball years!
Dusty old bones.
Oscar the Grouch has made a good life for himself foraging in the dumpsters. Keep it up, one of these dudes bound to stick. Cheap pickups
Some of the dumpster diving he did with the Dodgers panned out big
Yes,As long as they don’t live in the Dumpster it’s ok! The more the merrier,bring it on and maybe hold tryouts before Spring Training,don’t care
Dumpster diving is a great idea for complementary pieces, but when the whole outfield consists of 4th outfielders, and the whole infield performance was weak last year, it doesn’t provide much hope for the fans.
Don’t fret Snot there is still a lot of players available,this will go on at least through Spring Training at this rate your gonna need a higher dose of Meds,chillax!
Remember – acquiring Chris Taylor and Max Muncy were considered dumpster diving at the time too.
LHP Dan Jennings signed with the Angels on a minor league deal, LHP Andrew Faulkner signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers and the Brewers signed RHP Jay Jackson, former Padres reliever from their 2015 team, to a minor league deal. He’s been in Japan since 2016 and posted a 2.10 ERA across those seasons, could be a sneaky good signing.
Fast for a guy at 35
Still a great defender. On pace for 21 DRS.
Throw enough crap against the wall and a few are bound to stick. Beats rolling out Williamson again and again and again.
most crap will stick to a wall when thrown at it
Not after an order of garlic fries.
It’s all a matter of diet and velocity.
Everybody is forgetting what Williamson was doing before his Concussion,he was really good! Having had Concussions before myself,I know it can linger quite a while and I think that’s what happened with him,let’s just see? With Power like that,you just don’t give up on it
They needed a power bat this guy can top 2 homers a season!
DEFINITION: Fourth Outfielder: A player who appears in SF Giants’ lineup every day.
♂️
That was supposed to be an emoji of a guy with hands up in the air. Agreeing with you. I have no idea why that symbol appeared
When are the Giants going to give Aaron Rowand a call?
Rowand contracts are the reason teams don’t like long contracts.
I think I am going to have to live with the following outfield: Parra RF Duggar CF Shaw LF; with Gentry and Williamson as depth.
The infield picks itself.
Now we need some pitching depth
I can’t believe we have become the A’s.
But that was bound to happen
You wish you were the A’s.
If the A’s had a new Stadium, I might wish the Giants were the A’s. 🙂
Lets talk in 2023
By 2023 the A’s are gonna stink again.
Look at their roster lmao…. We aint the giants who are rolling out a bunch of 35 year olds.
What happens in 2023, A’s choke again?
I’ll put it in the diary
Catch up to current events. Classic giants fans living in the past.
At least we have a past to live in. What have y’all ever done this decade? If you ever win any playoff game the city will hold a parade. You are a real smack talker for somebody with empty pockets.
Come back when your team has actually won something
the last time the A’s won the AL pennant was in 1990. No Giants fans wish they were the A’s
9>8.
Granted, but how many of those were any of us alive for?
Let alone this century…
A’s fans: Giants fans are always living in the past.
Also A’s fans: 9>8
If you wanna talk in the past, then I’ll talk about the past as well
This supposed to be a new approach. But signings look a lot like the 2012 season. That didnt go so bad.
These moves aren’t flashy in the least, but they aren’t hurting the team either, so what is everyone complaining about? Did people really expect to sign Harper at a discount or somehow pull a bunch of young, cheap, talented players out of their you-know-whats?
Personally, I was expecting the clearance isle approach, but I didn’t think everyone they signed was going to be over 30 when they have been preaching about getting younger and more athletic.
Well, they have added several young, minor league free agents, as well as a couple rule-5 picks, but nobody’s going to recognize any of their names. Truthfully, you’re not going to find a whole lot of MLB free agents who are under 30 and also inexpensive and also actually worth having on your 40-man roster.
The only way to really get younger is to draft well and trade your stars for prospects. I still expect somebody to get traded before spring training, probably one of the relievers.
From black and orange to black and orange as an Orioles fan? Nice guy and very useful as a fourth outfielder..
Zaidi seriously needs to cool it with this.
Not much he can do when $50 million is on the DL and another 20 million wasted at 3B. What the Giants need is a few high price players have great first halfs and trade them. Once the bad contracts are gone they can spend where needed this time.
Giants ownership said they were willing to spend whatever on Harper. Giants not get Harper is ENTIRELY on Zaidi being cheep.
…or just not being foolish.
It has been reported that the Giants will offer high $/year for shorter years and Harper said he won’t take that. The Giants already have a handful of painful contracts (see arc89’s reply). Why would they set up the 2025 version of the team to look like the 2019 version, only worse because it is for 5 more years from then?
Cheap veteran depth pieces. Every team does this every year. Last year it was Chase D’Arnaud, Hector Sanchez, Josh Rutledge, Alen Hanson. 2017 it was Jimmy Rollins, Michael Morse, Justin Ruggiano, Chris Marrero. And so on. Some will make the roster, and some won’t. Some might help out later in the season. Does this really need explaining?
They Need Outfielders. Its obvious. . . I looked at the free agent list. It’s slim pickings. On a lot of guys. . . This guy can defend. Can hold up in Triple A, if he decides to stay. Or can break camp on the 25. . . Right handed who can play defense in center is what was needed. They got it. As an option. And we’ll see. . . This whole season is wait n see. This whole off-season has been wait n see. . . I don’t think the Giants are as bad as advertised. A lot of issues the last couple years. But if things go right. Who knows, 80 Wins. And a few breaks here or there. In contention. . . Maybe get up to 85-88 and now your in the Wild Card Hunt… It’s a Long Season. With trades and additions and subtractions. . . The 25 breaking camp Will Not be the 25 at the end of August. . . So like I said we’ll see. I’m a fan. And I ride either way. . . . . The great thing about this team is they know they messed up. Went and hired the best guy they wanted, no messing around. And history suggests they are always with the mindset to compete. . . Even for the fan experience during a so so era. . . . . . .
Great post!
How is a long post of terrible writing and no message other than “wait n see” great?