Minor transactions!
‘tis the season for big news to hit the airwaves, and for small moves to slip between the cracks. And so it took recent articles by Baseball America and MLB Trade Rumors to learn some news that occurred back in November: the San Francisco Giants quietly re-signed pitchers Kai-Wei Teng and Ethan Small to Minor League deals, keeping the team’s pitching depth well stocked.
Teng, a right-handed starter, was added to the roster as a semi-surprising Rule 5 protection and, in the cruel irony of baseball’s circular time, was designated for assignment last month to make space for the team’s latest Rule 5 protections. A recently-turned 26 year old who came to the Giants in the Sam Dyson trade, Teng had a solid 2023, with a 4.22 ERA in AAA’s Coors Field-esque Pacific Coast League, while being one of the league’s best strikeout artists, though command was a serious issue for him. Unfortunately, he completely fell apart in 2024. He did get to make his MLB debut, though he had a 9.82 ERA in 11 innings, and down in AAA his ERA ballooned to 8.60 while his strikeouts took a massive tumble. It wasn’t surprising that the Giants DFA’d him, but there’s still a lot of life and excitement in his arm, so they’ll be happy to have him back.
Small, a left-handed reliever, was acquired by the Giants in a trade right before Spring Training started. But he was injured during camp, and never really got healthy. He pitched just 13 Minor League innings, and never was activated to the active roster. He elected free agency at the end of the year. Small has a little bit of MLB experience with the Milwaukee Brewers, and he has an option remaining should the Giants add him back to the 40-man roster at some point this season.
How many days until Opening Day?
Just 104!