Weekend BP: Ricardo Genovés, Diego Rincones elect free agency

Happy weekend, San Francisco Giants fans. Is this the weekend that the Giants sign Aaron Judge? I hope not, because I’d like them to just do it on Monday so I don’t have to write anything on the weekend.

But I’ll take Judge on Sunday over Judge to a different team on Monday. Sign me up for that.

‘Tis the season for lots of roster moves, which means a lot of additions and a lot of subtractions. And on Friday a lot of subtractions were announced, as the first wave of Minor Leaguers who are eligible for free agency elected to do so.

A big handful of players chose free agency, but two names really stand out: catcher Ricardo Genovés and outfielder/designated hitter Diego Rincones.

Genovés, who turned 23 in May, opened the season in AAA Sacramento, despite never having played in AA. He hit .233/.320/.349 there, for a 70 wRC+, before heading to AA Richmond, where he hit .203/.286/.374. He’s got a fair amount of defensive talent, and I’m sure the Giants would love if he came back. But given that Joey Bart is still young, and they have a pipeline that includes Patrick Bailey, Brett Auerbach, Andy Thomas, Rayner Santana, Juan Perez, Onil Perez, and Adrian Sugastey, they probably feel okay if it’s the end of the line with Genovés.

Rincones was a breakout star in 2021, when he hit .290/.373/.505 in AA Richmond, good for a 140 wRC+ ... while only turning 22 midway through the season. There was question as to whether the Giants would protect him from last year’s Rule 5 Draft (which never ended up happening due to the lockout), but they opted against it. He took a step backwards this year as he stayed in AA, and hit .257/.306/.383 ... just an 87 wRC+.

Rincones was the No. 15 prospect in our Community Prospect List before the start of the season, while Genovés was No. 20.

Best of luck to them, and the rest of the Minor League free agents, wherever they end up.