Blake Sabol and William Kempner are on the move; recently waived RHP Austin Warren lost to claim.
It’s the first day when teams can sign international free agents and the San Francisco Giants have hit the ground running.
First, they signed the best non-Roki Sasaki IFA available in switch hitting shortstop Josuar de Jesus González (go read Brady’s post to understand the excitement), then they added another highly ranked shortstop in Yulian Barreto, and now they’ve added as much as $500,000 to their signing bonus pool after a pair of trades.
Blake Sabol, recently designated for assignment, was traded to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for more pool money. Meanwhile minor league pitcher William Kempner, drafted in the 3rd round of the 2022 draft, was traded to the Miami Marlins for additional money.
As GPT on X/Twitter notes:
This is the first time the Giants have traded for international pool $. They have traded it away twice in the past (Moore, McCutchen). https://t.co/7AfxVmsUbN
— GPT (@giantsprospects) January 15, 2025
It’s exciting to think that the team is making moves to possibly pick up some players who are now available in the wake of the Dodgers or Padres walking away from agreements to prepare for signing Roki Sasaki, but with the Giants having the lowest pool (tied with the Dodgers) out of the 30 teams (thanks to their free agent signing bonanza last offseason), it’s because they simply needed to work out a way to fit all their agreements under the cap.
Makes sense, Giants were right up against the limit or even over by my calcs. They’re at 5-5.2M just with known bonuses, slightly over the 5.15M in pool. I imagine this trade is for 250K-500K. https://t.co/PkaPaURMhM
— GPT (@giantsprospects) January 15, 2025
Teams are allowed to trade their bonus pool money in single transaction increments of up to $250,000 and, according to Marc Delucchi, that’s what happened here. Initial reporting was unclear as to the dollar amount, but it looks like the Giants gained $500,000 total.
This is new behavior from the Giants, but it’s born out of necessity. They managed to forge a relationship with one of the top global prospects and they found themselves hampered by unusual behavior a year ago when some top free agents finally chose to play for them, costing them draft picks and international bonus pool money. These are moves that the last front office would’ve made — indeed, this might’ve been the plan ever since Chapman & Snell signed and all that’s happening now is the execution of a long-term arrangement; but, it’s good to see that Buster Posey is letting the team prioritize its international signings.
Also, the team announced that the Mets claimed RHP Austin Warren off waivers.