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On Friday morning, ahead of their game against the Milwaukee Brewers, the San Francisco Giants announced 17 cuts, trimming their major league camp from 72 players to 55. A few notable names were sent down, including Chris Shaw and Kean Wong.
Of those 17, 10 were reassigned to the minors, meaning they weren’t on the 40-man roster. Those 10 are:
RHP Tyler Cyr
C Ricardo Genoves
RHP Sean Hjelle
RHP Jake Jewell
RHP Luis Madero
RHP Trey McNutt
LHP Sam Moll
RHP Raffi Vizcaino
OF Jamie Westbrook
RHP Sam Wolff
More cuts who were reassigned to minor league camp:
— Andrew Baggarly (@extrabaggs) March 6, 2020
RHP Tyler Cyr
C Ricardo Genovés
RHP Sean Hjelle
RHP Jake Jewell
RHP Luis Madero
RHP Trey McNutt
LHP Sam Moll
RHP Raffi Vizcaíno
OF Jamie Westbrook
RHP Sam Wolff
Congrats to those of you who knew that Sam Moll was in the major league camp. Have a cookie.
Another seven players were on the 40-man roster, but optioned on Friday:
RHP Melvin Adon
SS/2B Abiatal Avelino
RHP Jandel Gustave
LHP Conner Menez
LHP Sam Selman
OF/1B Chris Shaw
IF Kean Wong
Tons of cuts today. Here are the guys who were optioned:
— Andrew Baggarly (@extrabaggs) March 6, 2020
RHP Melvin Adon
IF Abiatal Avelino
RHP Jandel Gustave
LHP Conner Menez
LHP Sam Selman
IF Chris Shaw
IF Kean Wong
Those seven options are interesting. They feature Wong (an exciting player who has played decently), Adon (a top relief prospect), and five players who were on the MLB roster at one point or another a year ago.
It’s an especially tough break for Shaw, who has struggled to carve out a role with the Giants after being one of their top prospects a few years ago.
After making his MLB debut in 2018, Shaw surprisingly started 2019 in AA, perhaps a sign that the new regime wasn’t as high on him as the old one. He worked his way up to AAA when the cascade of outfielders danced their way to and from San Francisco, and eventually earned a September call up.
He struggled in an extremely small sample size, going 1-18 with 0 extra base hits, 2 walks, and 8 strikeouts. It was more of the same this spring, as Shaw hit 2-12 with 0 extra base hits, 2 walks, and 6 strikeouts.
As for the timing of the cuts, well, it appears to be a result of minor league camp, as well as getting close to the season and having regulars play more innings.
Cuts were today probably because position players report to minor-league camp officially. As spring training gets later, and regulars extend their innings, there are fewer for prospects. They can play every day down there. Games start Tuesday.
— Henry Schulman (@hankschulman) March 6, 2020
The Giants can still add the optioned players to the opening day roster, or purchase the contracts of the reassigned players. But for now, their major league watch has ended.