SF Giants assign Chris Shaw to Alternate Site in Sacramento

The SF Giants have assigned outfielder/first basemen Chris Shaw to the 60-man roster and sent him to Sacramento to work out with the rest of the team.

Today, the SF Giants brought Chris Shaw back into the fold. Shaw posted a picture on his Instagram story at the teams alternate site in Sacramento.

Shaw was left off, somewhat surprisingly from the Giants 60-man roster for the second summer camp before the season. Considering Shaw remained on the 40-man roster it was surprising to see him omitted.

Adding him gives the Giants another piece of outfield depth. Austin Slater has been injured, and the departure of Hunter Pence leaves a hole in the outfield depth for the organization at the moment.

However, there is another wrinkle to the move. As discussed in ATF’s trade deadline primer, to be traded, Shaw would have to be on the team’s active roster or at their alternate site.

As Schulman hinted, Shaw is in desperate need of a change of scenery. Once one of the organizations top position player prospect, Shaw has yet to really get a chance at the big league level for a variety of reasons. Besides, players like Jaylin Davis, and even Heliot Ramos are more likely to get a long look as an outfield option before Shaw.

The organization was slow to give him a shot before Farhan and co. came in. He came up and struggled mightily, then underwent an identity crisis in 2019. He has 109 career homers in the minors though, and a career OPS of .861. Shaw’s power is obvious, but his swing and miss was just too much at the big league level. In addition, he’s never walked much either. In 2019, at the big-league level he had one hit in 18 at-bats.

While it hasn’t clicked for Shaw above AAA in SF, it doesn’t mean it can’t click elsewhere. His power is real, and if he can make some approach adjustments, he could make an impact for the team getting him.

Now, if Chris Shaw wanted to prove all of us wrong, I wouldn’t be opposed. After-all, that would be a positive for the Giants most likely. But the likelihood of that happening is low. I’d expect him to end up elsewhere before he makes a plate appearance for the Giants in 2020.