San Francisco Giants: Hwang, Federowicz Elect Free Agency

The San Francisco Giants recently outrighted Tim Federowicz  and Jae-gyun Hwang off the 40-man roster, making them free agents.

The Giants signed Hwang on a minor league contract last offseason. After a solid showing in Spring Training, Hwang was sent to Triple-A where he hit .285 in 351 at-bats with 10 home runs throughout the 2017 season.

He did get 52 at-bats in the big leagues, but hit just .154 with 1 home run.

Hwang has actually already signed a contract to play in the KBO. He signed a four-year deal worth $7.9 million to play for the KT Wiz of South Korea’s KBO League.

That’s certainly more than what the Giants would have been willing to offer him.

I would have liked to have seen a bigger sample size for Hwang at the major league level to see what he was capable of. But regardless, he wasn’t going to a part of the Giants future or a huge difference maker, so it makes sense for both sides to go their separate ways.

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Federowicz got even less of a sample size with the Giants in 2017, but for obvious reasons. With Buster Posey in place and Nick Hundley having a great year, there just wasn’t room for Federowicz.

In 13 at-bats for the Giants in 2017 he hit .231, but had 2 home runs.

At Triple-A he hit .300 in 283 at-bats with 9 home runs. I don’t think Federowicz will have much trouble getting signed by another team.

However, this makes it even more important that the Giants resign Hundley.

Posey is the only catcher on the team’s current 40-man roster. So unless they think Aramis Garcia is ready for the jump to the big leagues, they’ll need to find another back-up catcher this offseason.

Next: San Francisco Giants: The Case for Jackie Bradley Jr.

We’ll see what direction the San Francisco Giants choose to go this offseason. These dealings are small potatoes compared to what the Giants need to do in order to contend in 2018.