The Giants brought two new players into their organization on Wednesday, adding depth to the Triple-A Sacramento roster.
San Francisco traded for catcher Jacob Nottingham from the Mariners and signed free agent Phoenix Sanders to a minor league deal. Nottingham, 28, has played 53 career MLB games and Sanders is a right-handed reliever with a 2.00 ERA in nine Triple-A innings this season.
Both players were assigned to the River Cats. Nottingham in particular fills an important role, as Ricardo Genovés was the only healthy catcher on Sacramento’s roster at the moment. Sanders, meanwhile, could join a group of Triple-A relievers vying for big-league chances with continued success.
The Giants’ near-daily waiver wire and minor trade activity has slowed down this year, as more of their homegrown talent has produced MLB or Triple-A capable players. Casey Schmitt and Patrick Bailey — plus relievers Ryan Walker and Tristan Beck — have already debuted and contributed to the Giants. Luis Matos and Tyler Fitzgerald have earned promotions to Triple-A, examples of more stability.
There will still be Cal Stevensons, Matt Beatys and Darin Rufs — temporary pick-ups to fill transient needs — but those types of roster moves are diminishing compared to past years.
Nottingham, the catcher, hasn’t played in MLB since 2021. He has eight career home runs and a .184 batting average. He was originally drafted in 2013 by the Astros, but bounced around before debuting for the Brewers in 2018.
Sanders comes from the Orioles, who claimed him from the Rays in 2022 (Tampa Bay had originally drafted him in the 10th round of the 2017 draft). He made his MLB debut with TB in 2022, pitching 14.2 innings over eight games and recording a 3.07 ERA.
In nine Triple-A games this season, Sanders has struck out 11 and walked three — impressive command given the difficulties of automatic balls and strikes at the level.