The Giants announced to reporters, including Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic, that they have claimed outfielder Steele Walker off waivers from the Rangers. The Giants already had a vacancy on their 40-man roster, meaning no corresponding move will be required. Walker has been optioned to Triple-A.
Walker, 26, was a second-round draft pick of the White Sox who went to the Rangers in the Nomar Mazara trade. He was selected to the big league club for the first time this year, making his MLB debut and getting into five games.
He’s spent most of the season in Triple-A, playing 50 games there and hitting .277/.353/.435, wRC+ of 98. Those aren’t world-beating numbers, but Walker does have encouraging plate discipline and bat-to-ball numbers, having walked in 9.3% of his plate appearances with Round Rock this season while striking out just 16.3% of the time.
My grandma has one of these too.
How can the Rangers release someone named Steele Walker? He is tailor-made for that team!
Plus, he’s from Texas.
Who won that Nomar trade to the Sox??
Noone
He’s with Herman’s Hermits.
What team does Noone play for now? Big baseball family, like the Boone family
Noone is a classic talent.
Probably the giants
San Diego won the trade!!
This transaction might be the Steele of the month.
I bet Boston had a claim in for him as well, but SF had the worse record of the two. He’s actually a pretty good player and only 26 years old. Has a future as a 4th OF in MLB in my opinion. Texas only gave him 14 ABs in the majors before waiving him….strange.
Waiver claims go by the league the player was in when he was waived, so if Texas waives a player as they did in this case he would have to get through all of the AL teams in order of worst record before reaching the worst teams in the NL and so on.
That said, the Red Sox did not place a claim or they would have claimed Walker before the Giants.
Wrong. Waiver claims are no longer league specific.
Yes just seen that this old rule no longer applies.
Thank you tad2b13
Correct. It is now in order if record regardless of the league. Just looked up the new agreement.
Thanks tad2b13
Giants an outfield full of 4th outfielders.
He got Covid. On Covid list. Then never came back. Optioned to RR⚾️
This is a Steele of a pick up
Hope to see him make good. He just got crowded out of ever getting chance with rangers
White Sox why not get him back? You’re trying everyone else in RF!
SF had the worse record so they would get him over Chicago (and Boston) if all 3 teams put in a claim for him.
@Dorothy
Walker would have first been available for the AL worst teams all the way up to the Yankees before teams like the Pirates and Reds and Giants had a shot at him.
Due to being an AL player the AL gets first dibs starting with the worst record so the A’s would have been before the Red Sox and the Red Sox would have been before the Giants and so on.
Again, that’s wrong. MLB no longer goes by league in waiver claims. It’s strictly by worse record of the 29 other teams.
It makes more sense this way. So the Yankees cannot claim a player that the Reds or Pirates obviously need more.
Stop the Steele
This transaction will prove to be ‘riveting’.
But now he won’t be “Walker, Texas Ranger”.
He’ll always be Steele Walker Texas Ranger
I like these puns.
Rangers have much better outfield prospects than steele walker he was barely in rangers top 30 prospects
Next, Davis wendzel
It wouldn’t shock me to see this ex-White Sox OF prospect produce for SF like former ChiSox prospect Luis González has. It’s not as if the White Sox are lacking for left-handed hitting OF bats…
The Next Barry Bonds
We did it boys
The Walker, Texas Ranger reboot has been cancelled
It is now Rainbow Walker, SF Ranger.
Zaidi dumpster diving once again
Giants steady picking up these garbage can players. That is one crappy organization. I see why top players won’t sign there. What a joke
Yeah, if Judge becomes a FA, and doesn’t sign with the Giants, I’m sure the reason will be because they put a waiver claim on Steele Walker.
Great name if your in construction
My next-door neighbor growing up worked in construction. Written on the side of his work truck was the phrase STEEL ERECTION. I $h!t you not.
when someone’s best asset is not swinging, you know you have a superstar
It’s so predictable that some Giants fans will post “dumpster diving” every time FZ makes a waiver claim. Are these people so out of touch, that they don’t realize every team in baseball makes similar claims? Yesterday alone there were literally half a dozen waiver claims, and none of those were by the Giants.
To be fair. I like Walker. I traded for him in MLB the show 2020 and 2021. Stashed him in AA. The name helps but he isn’t bad. Could be good pick up by SF.
I get that. It’s one thing for small market teams to be consistently making moves like this. But for a team with the 4th highest average ticket price to be fielding a roster of waiver claims and dumpster dives, it’s more than a little hard to for fans to swallow this roster while paying full freight for tickets.
As a long time Giants fan, I don’t disagree entirely. Hopefully they go out this off season and bring in some heavy hitters and bolster the pitching. The whole team needed an overhaul. They’re adding more depth on the 40 and minors. What they do this off-season will be indicative of what direction they plan to go.
Love all the critics of the Giants here who can’t remember recent history. Particularly rich coming from Padres fans of all people. Giants won 107 games and a division title just last year. Oh and don’t forget 3 world championships in last 12 years. I’d hardly criticize the success of this particular organization which is obviously undergoing a retooling this season.
gmenfan:
One of those half dozen waiver claims I referenced was the Yankees claiming Luke Bard. 31 year old RP without good numbers, but apparently the Yankees like his spin rate. My point being, that it isn’t just small market teams claiming marginal players off waivers.
Steele Walker Texas Ranger is now Steele Walker San Francisco Giant.
3rd former White Sox to be claim by San Francisco in a year. I guess San Fran is the new Bay Sox.
Never liked Steele Walker. He is an okay player but trying to be too cool when called up with shirt unbuttoned and multiple chains. He also didn’t go after a ball because he thought it was the ninth inning and other team had walked it off. It was Only the eighth inning!!!!! Looked pretty dumb at that point.
The Yankees just signed Joey Gerber, who was released by the Mariners in June. If FZ had signed him, the accusations of dumpster diving would be all over the comments, and the Giants would also be accused of operating like a small market team.
@Tad,
Want your take on the game tonight versus SD and Kapler’s mindset. Luis Gonzalez has not been consistent as of late. He came up in the ninth inning with Estrada in scoring position. Rather than pinch hit with Joc or even Wade, he allows him to bat and of course he strikes out. Joc nor Wade never even get a swing of the bat. It’s just head scratching for me and therefore wanted your take!
With the lead, it’s probably better to keep Gonzalez in LF, rather than Pederson. Might have been a different story if the Giants were behind at that point. Wade Jr. should not be facing lefty pitchers at all.
So Cal:
I agree with that guynamedchris. Gonzalez is a much better defensive option that Joc. Wade has a career .094 BA against LHPs, and this season it’s .063. Gonzales on the other hand hits .230 for his career against LHPs, and .233 this season. He hits lefties better than Joc as well, who’s .208 for his career and .211 this season.