Giants clear 40-man roster spot by sneaking reliever you didn't know they had through waivers

There was not a whole lot of fanfare made last week when the SF Giants claimed right-handed reliever Eric Cerantola off waivers from the Kansas City Royals. He went on San Francisco’s 40-man roster but the Giants just snuck him through waivers and outrighted him to Triple-A Sacramento.

Hardly anyone knows Cerantola is in the organization but with how bad the team’s bullpen has been this year, maybe he could eventually find some sort of role with the team.

The Canadian has a 10.13 ERA on the season in two appearances, but his numbers in the minors are more promising. He had a 2.67 ERA in 30 and 1/3 innings pitched for Kansas City’s Triple-A affiliate.

He has made one outing with the Sacramento River Cats and it did not go well at all. Cerantola gave up five earned runs and issued five walks in 1 and 1/3 innings which is really alarming because he has some electric stuff but he really struggles to find the strike zone at times.

That’s been a big issue for San Francisco’s entire bullpen. Walks have come back to bite them time and time again so unless Cerantola can really get a handle on his command then he may not get called up to the big leagues.

Giants have to take a different approach to bullpen next offseason

Yet, the Giants are desperate in the bullpen. They’ll take anyone they can get which provides a great opportunity for some minor league arms to get the nod and get essentially a tryout to see if they could be a part of next year’s bullpen.

Last year guys like Matt Gage and J.T. Brubaker made a good enough impression to insert themselves into the bullpen mix for this season. Maybe there will be guys who pitch well enough the last two and a half months of the season that we see them again next year.

If San Francisco has learned anything this season though, it’s that the front office needs to do a better job addressing the bullpen next offseason. That doesn’t mean the team has to sign a premier closer every offseason but they do need to try to get legitimate big league relievers with a proven track record of success.

If they keep on acquiring guys like Cerantola and just hope for the best then it’s hard to see how they can make the bullpen better anytime soon.

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