The Giants have designated outfielder Aaron Altherr for assignment and activated left-hander Drew Pomeranz from the 10-day injured list, Maria Guardado of MLB.com was among those to report.
This is the second time this month that a team has booted Altherr from its 40-man roster. The Phillies did it previously when they designated Altherr on May 4, leading the Giants to claim him off waivers last weekend. Even though San Francisco’s outfield has been a mess this season, the club didn’t give Altherr much of an opportunity, allowing the 28-year-old just one at-bat before cutting him.
In fairness to the Giants, Altherr hasn’t exactly made a case for a big league roster spot over the past couple years. Altherr was a solid offensive producer in Philadelphia in 2017, when he hit .272/.340/.516 (121 wRC+) with 19 home runs in 412 plate appearances, but he has only batted .165/.272/.304 with eight long balls across 316 PA since then. Altherr’s 60 wRC+ is tied for eighth worst among hitters who have amassed at least 300 trips to the plate dating back to last season.
We gave him quite a chance. He had a whopping 7 at bats.
Actually he only got 1 at bat. 0-1 with a K. lol poor guy
eh, he made a lot of money to do nothing. Don’t feel bad for him.
This argument is so old by now. Altherr is paid appropriately for being one of the thousand best people in the world at his job, which is a massive corporation that makes money hand-over-fist.
This is true, but to be fair, no one would watch the game if it was just a bunch of so so players. No one pays to go see the thousandth best player. People pay to see great winning players
Nah. People pay to root for laundry. The NFL strike in 1987 proved that. If every player in the majors retired tomorrow, they’d promote the AAA guys and crowd sizes would be back to normal in a year.
What in the world is Farhan doing with his revolving door of players that never play?
I believe what he’s doing is pretty good. I mean claiming a player and seeing if that player could catch fire in the majors or designated them and seeing if know one else claims them isn’t a bad idea. I mean we aren’t letting anyone go for this idea
No one catches fire after 1 at bat.
Exactly.
At least give him 10 at bats
They should make a rule on players getting designated.
Pitchers should get 3 games min or 6 inning total
and batters 10 at bats minimum.
Equal opportunity right there
I agree with the concept but I don’t think I’d base it on number of appearances/etc, but I’d make a minimum of x days on the roster, like 20 or something.
I don’t know how much money he makes but the guy moved to the other side of the country only to maybe either have to move to Sacramento or somewhere else if he’s claimed. I’m sure he wouldn’t complain if another big league team picked him up but jeez. I hope they pay some kind of relocation expenses to players that might not make a lot of money. One week on MLB minimum is probably what his deposit is on a rental in SF.
I highly doubt he relocated – packing up and selling would take longer than the amount of time he’s even spent playing for the Giants.
When does the “burn the house down” commence? Sell off? Garage sale? They have nice bullpen arms and Bumgarner to move.
Looking forward to the Giants getting younger. Long overdue.
I’m looking forward to the Giants being very bad for at least 5 years as well.
It needs to start yesterday. Farhan needs to start making moves for the future instead of lateral moves for today that don’t accomplish anything.
They seem like the type of team that is really going to struggle with rebuilding. They just don’t seem to have a great eye for prospects or developing them. Seems like a bunch of AAAA-types have come through there recently.
There will be no Giants Fire Sale. Why? The Giants have the highest attendance drop off (over 6k per game) and ownership wants to be competitive. They aren’t going to wait a few years for those seats to be refilled.
In fact when they hired Zaidi he said the Giants would be competitive while they rebuilt. That’s what got him hired. Yet he has no idea why his roster moves haven’t worked and why the Giants are so bad.
Also, just because a team is “young” doesn’t mean it’s good. Just as many bad young teams as their are good ones.
Exactly right.
He should have gone to Japan years ago.
Yeah, a trip there at age 14 would have been fun for him and his family.
That too, but I was thinking 2017.
im pretty sure him staying for the 2017 season worked out quite well for him
At age 24
Why?
This is how I run a fantasy team.
Funny you mention that. Zaidi’s major accomplishment with the Dodgers was winning the team’s fantasy football league every year. And when he left after 4 years the Dodgers decided they didn’t need a GM after all.
I know Adam Duvall wouldn’t bring back much in a trade, but he seems like the perfect sort of stopgap player SF could use. He still has 2.5 years of control, plays good defense and has power. He’s hitting better in AAA right now too. I think he’s better as a full-timer than a pinch hitter. I feel bad for him being stuck in AAA.
They’re looking at guys a little younger than Duvall. Same reason why they didn’t go after Adam Jones. They are looking for mid to high 20’s guys. They’re not going to compete this year unless the older, unmovable players they currently have start hitting better than .210.
I don’t buy the Adam Jones age argument when you trade guys away to get Kevin Pillar. They didn’t sign Adam Jones because they didn’t want to spend any more money.
Stop with the Duvall back to the Giants idea. Its not happening no matter how many times you suggest it or how you justify it.
agreed!!
I’ve never suggested it before, and I don’t have to justify it. I just think that he’s likely better than SF’s other options, he’s cheap, and he’s blocked in Atlanta. I don’t care if he goes to SF or not, I’d just like to see him have another shot at the majors. SF is one of the teams with the biggest need.
Williamson still has a job. Sorry but he had 1 good game and back to being a AAAA player. problem with Bochy is sometimes he doesn’t give the young players a chance. Alltherr is a better OF than Williamson so why not give him a chance? Why didn’t they trade Belt while they had a chance? To much favorites with the Giants.
Williamson is there to appease the fanbase who is obsessed with him. I saw talent there 4 years ago, but it came apparent he was a AAAA player a while back. Still, have to play him to prove to a fanbase he doesn’t belong.
Anti belt, you dont know anything about the Giants or their fanbase. Williamson seems like a less talented version of nate schierholtz. And all Nate ever did was contribute to Busters injury with that weak offline throw from shallow shallow RF. I dont know any real Giants fans who are big fans of Mac Williamson. Sure like all fans of a team they hope their guys play well. Fans know Mac is a longshot at this point.
Trying to get him through waivers. Didn’t cost them anything to get him. Austin is currently better suited as the 4th outfielder type but needs to improve his defense. I’d like to see Austin get more reps. They need to leave Mac in left at least through June to see if he can gain some consistency. The core guys have got to step up. Panik heating up as is Posey. Duggar is fairly solid and the Panda is their best offensive player. The rest need to get it going
Panda the best? That’s sad…..
Why is it sad that a guy slashing .293/.318/.634, 150 wRC+ is the best hitter on a team? There are only 18 players with a wRC+ better than 150, meaning Sandoval would be the best hitter on a dozen or so teams.
They need to accept the fact they are not going anywhere the next several years and let the young guys have a chance. They won’t be able to unload the overpaid contracts for anything too valuable. Get some good prospects for a few of them. They aren’t going to fill the stadium with the team they have now. They have lived up to their title as the most boring team in baseball. Change that by letting the Youngblood’s take over.
They need to give Austin Slater a good look in the OF. He has the tools to be a everyday player. hes hit above .300 except 1 year in the minors with some signs of decent pop and speed. i seen him play in AA a couple games and he played good defense in center field, and he drew some walks and worked the count. I believe he has the best chance to make it over any of these other bums they are trying. Mac Williamson needs to hit better, i feel his time is dwindling down with the Giants
Farhan is too busy cycling through players he’s bringing in from outside the team. That’s why after DFAing Mac Williamson in ST they had 7 different player play in the OF before bringing him back up. He seems to be even more down on Slater and Chris Shaw.
The guy literally convinced himself there was no talent in the Farm System and has been bringing in bargain vets and other team’s castoffs.
They also need ro give Yaz a shot. Hes tearing the cover off the ball in AAA. Showing good sign of pop and OBP. And hes not striking out a ton either.
As an Orioles fan, let me tell you that Mike Yaz, despite good to very good minor league numbers, was never considered a prospect in a barren O’s farm system. I’m not even sure he’s a 4A player. He does everything ok but doesn’t do any one thing even above average.
In the grand scheme of things, why does Farhan Zaidi care? Players are meat hanging in the freezer. Need an outfielder, thaw him out. Who would want to play for this Director of baseball operations. While Farhan rides in his limo to and from games, spreading his grey poupon on his multi bran bread, the rest of us are left eating grey dog poupey. I am bored with this season. Wake me up when they DFA Belt, Panik, Crawford or Longoria
Belt’s been the second best hitter on the team, behind Pablo. First in HR, second in OPS and Runs scored. Third in RBIs. Without Belt this team would be so much worse.
Can’;t argue with this. The Giants handed him a sweet contract to carry the club to another pennant and he has delivered? In 2016 Belt signed a five year contract for $72 million. His RBi total during 2016 was 82 followed by 2017 at 51 and 2018 at 46 in 2019 he is projected to drive in 68. His batting average during that four year span has gone from 275 to 247, to 253, to 237.. Yes Belt has delivered along with Crawford, Panik Longoria and dare I say Posey..Watching these five players is like watching five bloated floating corpses.
Are Ramos and Bart in AA yet? Zaidi pass me the grey dog poupay for my brat. Need a full stomach to dig those five floaters out of the bay.. .
lmao
Altherr … 1game … 1 AB … 1 K … Zaidi really knows how to upgrade the Giants
It is called recognition of talent. Unfortunately Zaidi has a spastic colon.
Too bad they thought they’d compete last year. Lost Bryan Reynolds for half a year of Cutch. He’s looking good in Pittsburgh.
We could trade half a year of Bochy for a AA prospect. No one would miss him.
The Giants handed Zaidi a nearly impossible situation. And it looks like he doesn’t have a clue what to do with it except hope for miracles.
The Giants handed Zaidi a nearly impossible situation. And Zaidi has handed us a nearly impossible team to watch.
The Giants have three WSCs this decade,so kudos to them and Bochy.
That being said,it does not take a brain surgeon to realize that you have to do something drastic when you lose 98 games.
Their reliance on veterans is going the same way that it did for the Phillies after 2011.
They should have sucked it up and changed their philosophy after 2017 which they did not do.They need to get as much as they can for their bloated contracts and start anew.Otherwise they will be wallowing around in mediocrity for a number of years.
Absolutely hilarious the Giants fans around here ripping Farhan for DFAing Altherr so quickly and claiming he can’t handle the job when he’s had the job for less than half of a season. Oh…the irony!!!
I also think the Jays should grab him and option Davis. Davis has been awful and they could use a fielding first outfielder. Go get him Ross!!
They seem like the type of team that is really going to struggle with rebuilding. They just don’t seem to have a great eye for prospects or developing them. Seems like a bunch of AAAA-types have come through there recently.
Okay, to everyone complaining about Zaidi’s “random” moves…. Here’s what I think is going on:
It doesn’t cost anything to claim a guy off waivers (right???). You claim a guy for free, who maybe has worked his way up to AA or AAA, or even had a cup of coffee in the majors. Already you have a guy who has a little experience, is probably better than the average single-A or AA player, and it didn’t cost you a DIME to develop them.
If you have a roster spot on the 25-man, you have a guy who might be able to have a few at-bats or pitch a few innings. In 1 out of 100 or a 1,000 times, maybe you strike gold. If not, or if there’s a roster crunch on the 40-man, you DFA them and take your chances on him making it through waivers.
If they get claimed by another team, what have you lost: again, nothing (or very little). And if they make it through waivers and don’t claim free agency, then you have a depth piece in the minors.
Everyone is so convinced the Giants’ minor league system is worthless — I disagree, to a point, but that’s an argument for another time — so how could it hurt to add guys with maybe AAA and/or MLB experience? And that also gives the player more time to develop and maybe the Giants’ system can come up with a diamond in the rough that way.
The only problem with all this, as I see it, is that the Giants could start gaining a reputation among players as kind of a cold, impersonal, cut throat organization… which could hurt them in the long run as far as attracting free agents or signing draftees.
I think that your assessment is probably accurate.In this manner he is essentially getting an option on a player if he is not picked up by another team without tying up a 40 man roster space.
I also agree with your idea on a possible detriment.
What it does not show is a concern for the particular human who they have picked up.Even if he is successful this would leave a bad taste in his mouth.Also,why not give him a fair chance?Are they in a roster crunch with good players?!!!They May have wanted to give the current outfielders the bulk of playing time now,but surely they could find some playing time for Altherr.
This hints at a number crunching robot who has no real inclination to the human side of the baseball equation.
That Zaidi might turn out to be a “number crunching robot” with no concept of “the human side of the baseball equation” is what I’m worried about. But from all reports I’ve read, he isn’t. And I’ve read from several sources that he and Bochy, despite their differing outlooks, have much respect for one another. So we shall see.
Thanks for the input