Giants bulk up Minor League depth with pitchers Ryan Dull and Carlos Torres

The trade deadline may have passed, but the San Francisco Giants are not done making moves. If you’ve followed the career of President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi, then you are probably not surprised to hear this news.

On Monday, the Giants added two pitchers to their Minor League depth. Most notable is the addition of 29-year old right-handed reliever Ryan Dull, who was claimed off of waivers.

Dull was a 32nd-round draft pick by the Oakland Athletics back in 2012. He made his MLB debut in 2015, and had a strong 2016, pitching 74.1 innings for the A’s, while allowing just 50 hits and 15 walks, and striking out 73. He had an FIP of 3.58, an ERA of 2.42, and was worth 2.3 rWAR.

Since that time, Dull has struggled to replicate his 2016 performance. He pitched in just nine innings for the A’s this year, and got rocked, allowing 19 hits, four walks, and 12 earned runs.

The A’s, who are in the midst of a playoff race, designated Dull for assignment on Saturday, and the Giants claimed him. Dull joins the Giants 40-man roster, and will report to AAA Sacramento. San Francisco had an open spot on the 40-man roster, so they didn’t need to designate a player for assignment to make room for Dull.

Also joining the team is 36-year old right-handed reliever Carlos Torres. Torres was designated for assignment by the Minnesota Twins on July 28, and, when not claimed, was released on July 30. He refused an outright assignment, which made him a free agent, and he then signed a Minor League deal with the Giants.

Like Dull, Torres was a strong pitcher back in 2016, but has been unable to provide much value since. Torres played for the Milwaukee Brewers that year, and allowed 65 hits and 30 walks in 82.1 innings, while striking out 78. He had an FIP of 3.75, an ERA of 2.73, and was worth 2.2 rWAR.

Torres appeared in just four games this year, as a member of the Detroit Tigers. In six innings, he allowed nine hits, one walk, and struck out eight, while giving up five earned runs. But the veteran has been decent - not great, but decent - in AAA this year, while bouncing between the Twins, Tigers, and San Diego Padres organizations.

Together, Dull and Torres will strengthen Sacramento’s pitching, which was weakened a little at the trade deadline. The Giants dealt three MLB relievers and one AAA reliever on July 30, and had to replace those on the 25-man roster with some of Sacramento’s depth. So some replenishing was in order.

And in addition to providing depth for this year, Zaidi managed to find a waiver claim that could help the team in years to come. Due to his limited service time, Dull is under team control until 2023.