:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/66577814/1201944125.jpg.0.jpg)
The MLB season has been suspended for about two and a half weeks now, but Farhan Zaidi and the San Francisco Giants are still slowly but surely making moves.
According to Twitter user @giantsprospects — the most trustworthy source in Giants minor league transactions — San Francisco recently waived two prospects: Gio Brusa and Dylan Davis.
Giants released OF Gio Brusa (26.8Y). He was a 2016 6th round pick out of Pacific. He appeared in 394 games, mostly in SJ and Augusta, with a .233/.298/.438 line overall.
— GPT (@giantsprospects) March 30, 2020
Giants released OF/RHP Dylan Davis (26.4Y). He was a 2014 3rd round pick out of Oregon State. He appeared in 505 games as a position player, hitting .243/.311/.416. He also had 24 IP, after converting to pitching in 2019.
— GPT (@giantsprospects) March 30, 2020
Brusa, a 26-year old outfielder and first baseman, was selected in the 6th round (185th overall) in the 2016 draft.
A few months later, Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen described him like this:
Switch-hitting enigma with solid raw power who tantalized amateur scouts as an underclassman on Cape Cod but never hit consistently at Pacific. He went backwards as a junior and returned to Pacific for his senior year and started hitting again but scouts are concerned about the stiffness and length in his swing, especially from the left side.
Brusa began last year at high-A, but quickly moved up to AA, despite not performing that well. In Richmond, Brusa hit .223/.306/.410 with 12 home runs in 337 plate appearances. Those aren’t particularly good numbers, though in the pitcher-friendly league it was good for a 110 wRC+, meaning Brusa was 110% as good as the average hitter.
Davis is also a 26-year old, and was drafted in the third round (87th overall) in the 2014 draft. He was drafted as an outfielder, but his bat never developed. In 2018, his final year as an outfielder, he slashed .237/.284/.400 in AA, good for a wRC+ of 87.
In 2015, Kiley McDaniel - then with Fangraphs - ranked Davis as the 18th-best prospect in the Giants system, with a future value of 40, saying:
Davis is the rare tooled-up college player, drafted in the 3rd round last summer out of Oregon State. He hit 98 mph in relief at his best, but was one-dimensional on the mound and won’t pitch in pro ball. Davis has plus raw power and bat speed along with a 65 or 70 arm, so the right field profile is easy to see. He has a squatty 6’0/215 frame and well below average speed that may move him to first base eventually, though it would be a shame to waste his arm. Davis also can get uphill and too aggressive at the plate, while he also has trouble converting his BP power into games, but will show flashes.
He was converted into a pitcher a season ago, and in 22 innings across three levels (rookie, A-ball, and AA), he allowed 19 hits and 14 walks, while striking out 14. His ERA was 4.91, and his WHIP was 1.500.
Both Brusa and Davis have fallen off over the years. The last time either player appeared in the McCovey Chronicles Community Prospect List (thanks again, Roger, Kevin, and free f.p.!) was 2017, when the community ranked Davis 27th in the farm, and Brusa 35th.
It’s unclear if there’s any reason for the Giants to be waiving these players now, other than to save a few thousand dollars in minor league salary payments.