Justin Maxwell added to 40-man roster; Gary Brown designated for assignment

There was a time when Gary Brown was the Giants' best prospect. Would the Mets have taken him instead of Zack Wheeler in the Carlos Beltran trade? Almost certainly. Four years later, the Giants would rather sneak him through waivers than anyone else on the 40-man roster. To make room for Justin Maxwell, the Giants designated Brown for assignment.

You could see this coming after last year, when the Giants literally played Travis Ishikawa in the outfield instead of Brown. Do you realize how low the Giants must have been on Brown to start Ishikawa in the outfield on purpose during the World Series? Low enough to DFA him and keep Juan Perez on the roster.

As long as we're looking toward the past, we should remember that Maxwell hit 18 homers in 2012 and was the most valuable player on the Astros that year. Which is like being the best accordion player in 98º, but still, he's had some good seasons. He has skills. He should be a fine fifth outfielder.

We'll see if Brown sneaks through waivers. I'll guess he doesn't, but I've been wrong before. The Gary Brown Era is probably over before it ever happened. At least we'll have a few memories.

Those are good memories.

Gary Brown got a World Series ring with the Giants. When he was drafted in June, 2010, that's all I really wanted. I don't know about you. Best of luck to him, and best of luck to the Giants, who are probably still hoping he sneaks through waivers.