SF Giants release hard-throwing pitching prospect

The SF Giants trimmed organizational pitching depth from the upper minors. Hard-throwing pitching prospect José Cruz was released by the club earlier this week according to the team's transaction log.

SF Giants release hard-throwing pitching prospect

The Giants originally signed Cruz as a 17-year-old prospect during the 2017 international signing period. That turned out to be a tough year for the organization on the international market.

In 2015, the Giants signed switch-hitting shortstop Lucius Fox to a $6 million signing bonus out of the Bahamas. He was one of the top players in that year's class, but that signing alone meant that the Giants significantly overspent their bonus pool of $2.1 million.

As a result, the Giants were not able to sign any prospect for more than $300,000 for the enxt two signing periods. Oftentimes, these deals are agreed to well in advance, so the Giants were likely aware that the talent in the 2016 and 2017 classes would be light when Fox signed in 2015. However, the Fox signing sealed that deal as they were not able to compete with other teams on that front.

This led to a lighter class in 2017. Cruz was part of that class but his signing bonus is not listed, so he was likely one of the more unheralded Giants prospects. In fact, he looks to be the last one to remain with San Francisco from that class.

Cruz's career got off to a deliberate start as he did not reach full-seasn ball until 2022 with San Jose. That turned out to be a huge year for the young pitcher as he posted a 2.06 ERA, with 86 strikeouts against 23 walks in 52.1 innings.

Despite the huge competition gap between Low-A and the majors, the Giants decided to protect Cruz from the Rule 5 draft by adding him to the 40-man roster after that season. It was a mild surprise and the Giants knew that it would be a while before he was ready to help the club. This move tends to accelerate development and that was seemingly the case with Cruz as he pitched briefly in High-A before being moved to the upper minors last season.

Cruz's control was erratic in the lower minors, but he struggled to throw strikes against better competition. He spent the bulk of the season in Double-A where he tallied a 6.66 ERA with 39 strikeouts and 31 walks in 25.2 frames.

The Giants decided to non-tender Cruz after last season but he re-signed shortly thereafter. This was done to remove him from the 40-man roster but keep him in the organization. The 24-year-old pitcher returned to Double-A for much of the season but he was plagued by subpar control.

Cruz is now free to sign with any team as he reaches free agency for the second time in less than a year.