SF Giants Announce A Flurry of Big-League Roster Moves

The SF Giants announced a flurry of roster moves on Sunday by adding Tyler Beede, Aramis Garcia, and Reyes Moronta back to the 40-man roster.

To organize the SF Giants 40-man roster, the team announced a series of roster moves. Catcher Tyler Heineman, outfielder Joey Rickard, and southpaw Anthony Banda were outrighted off of the 40-man roster and became minor-league free agents. Banda, however, has already been re-signed on a minor league deal for 2021.

Tyler Beede (Tommy John surgery), Aramis Garcia (hip surgery), and Reyes Moronta (torn labrum) did not appear in 2020 as each one recovered from injury. They were originally placed on the 45-day injured list to allow the Giants to make additions to the 40-man roster. However, the 45-day injured list cannot be used during the offseason, so all three needed to be brought back to the 40-man roster.

Rickard and Heineman appeared with the Giants last season. Rickard recorded one hit in five at-bats, whereas Heinman slashed a .190/.292/.214 line (44 OPS+)  in 50 plate appearances as one of the many options for the team at catcher.

While Heineman proved to be an adequate pitch framer in a short time span, he did commit an unusually high (3) number of catcher’s interference errors.

I did enjoy watching the 29-year-old’s at-bats as he proved to be a gritty, contact-oriented hitter. However, he did not show off any power as only one of his eight hits went for extra-bases. Chadwick Tromp is higher on the organizational depth chart at catcher, so it made sense that the Giants outrighted Heineman.

Unlike Rickard and Heineman, Banda did not appear with the Giants in 2020. The left-handed hurler was designated for assignment by the Tampa Bay Rays, but the Giants worked out a trade to bring him to San Francisco.

Banda, originally a tenth-round pick, was ranked as the no. 88 prospect in baseball by Baseball America before 2017. However, he sustained a torn UCL in his pitching elbow in the middle of 2018 that required Tommy John surgery.

Since recovering from the injury, Banda has yielded 11 earned runs in only 11 innings with the Rays.

Given that he was brought him back on a minor league deal, the Giants clearly like what they see from Banda, so he could be competing for a roster spot next spring.

While all three players are in different places in their development and recoveries, Aramis Garcia, Reyes Moronta, Tyler Beede, and Anthony Banda could all be contributors for the SF Giants in 2020. However, none are guaranteed a job either. Instead they each will enter what should be a Spring Training full of heated competition.