SF Giants announcer sounds off on recent puzzling roster move

The SF Giants recently added relief pitcher Mike Baumann in a trade with the Seattle Mariners. In a radio appearance, Giants announcer Dave Flemming said that the move did not make sense since the team already has Spencer Bivens.

SF Giants announcer sounds off on recent puzzling roster move

Flemming made his comments yesterday on 95.7 The Game, a Bay Area sports radio station. He echoed a sentiment that many Giants fans probably felt as well.

It looks like the Giants may have listened because just today, Baumann was designated for assignment by the Giants and the team recalled Bivens as well as the young Hayden Birdsong per the team's transaction log.

Baumann only pitched in one game for the Giants and that was in Friday's contest against the Rockies. Baumann struggled, giving up two earned runs on three hits and only recording two outs before he was removed from the game in favor of Ryan Walker.

It was sort of puzzling why Baumann was on the roster to begin with, especially with Randy Rodriguez and Spencer Bivens both showing promise this season.

Perhaps with tonight's double header, the front office felt they needed an extra arm to give them some innings so they could save Bivens for the double header in case they had to extend him and let him pitch multiple innings.

No matter what, it is clear that there is some frustration with how the front office is operating. Moves like this are nothing new, but they are more evidence of a front office run by Farhan Zaidi that often feels too clever by half. It is clear that Zaidi really prides himself on finding diamonds in the rough to the point where he will make just about any waiver wire trade with the hopes that he has found his next gem.

It looked brilliant when he was able to land players like LaMonte Wade Jr. and Thairo Estrada through this approach, but as the losses pile up and the mediocrity continues that approach has just lost its charm.

Thankfully, Bivens is now back on the roster. He has been great for the Giants this season, posting an ERA of 2.65 in his rookie season and turning in a legendary 5 inning start against the Dodgers last month when they absolutely needed it from him.

It is great that he is back on the roster, but it is clear that Flemming and many Giants fans would have liked to see him back in the big leagues sooner and are getting tired of Zaidi's constant roster churn.