Former infielder with unique footnote in SF Giants history hired as D-Backs coach

I bet you did not expect to see Travis Denker news in your feed but here we are. The Arizona Diamondbacks recently finalized their major league coaching staff with the former SF Giants infielder being announced as an assistant hitting coach.

Former infielder with unique footnote in SF Giants history hired as D-Backs coach

There were a few more moves announced by the Diamondbacks. Owen Dew was hired as an assistant pitching coach, whereas former assistant hitting coach Rick Short was reassigned to a minor league field coordinator.

Denker's first and only major league stint was in 2008 but his pro career ended relatively recently. He played for many organizations since being drafted in the 21st round of the 2003 draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers out of Brea Olinda High School in Brea, California. However, his last stint as a pro came in 2017 with the Arizona Diamondbacks where he posted an .867 OPS with seven home runs and 28 RBI in 228 plate appearances for their Triple-A club.

The right-handed bat's brief time with the Giants was surprisingly strong. He tallied nine hits, including one home run, 37 at-bats. Oddly enough, I still remember that home run because it barely cleared the fence in left field against the New York Mets. Despite the solid stint, that proved to be his only experience in the majors.

Denker does hold a bit of a unique footnote in Giants history. The Giants acquired him as an infield prospect in a trade with the Dodgers in 2007. That deal sent Mark Sweeney to Los Angeles. It is the last time the Giants and Dodgers have completed a player-for-player trade.

This is a bit of a sidenote, but roster construction is different today compared to 15 years ago. Sweeney was known as a strong pinch hitter and filled that role quite a bit during his 14-year career. That is a role that teams do not really carry on the roster anymore.

As far as I can tell, the Giants and Dodgers did make at least one transaction recently. Reliever Darien Núñez was claimed off of waivers from the Dodgers in 2022. The Giants leveraged the COVID rules as much as they could that season as they made what seemed like 50 waiver claims in the first two months of the year.

Denker recently got into coaching. He joined Arizona's Triple-A affiliate in 2024 as a hitting coach. They must have been impressed with his work as he only spent one season with them before earning a promotion to the major league staff.