SF Giants swing trade with Royals for veteran minor league catcher

The SF Giants and Kansas City Royals matched up for a trade on Friday. Veteran minor league catcher Logan Porter is heading to the Giants organization in exchange for cash considerations according to the team's transaction log.

SF Giants swing trade with Royals for veteran minor league catcher

Porter was not on the Royals 40-man roster, so this move adds catching depth in the upper minors. The Giants have had a lot of movement in terms of catching depth this season.

They started the year with Joey Bart and Cooper Hummel both briefly on the 40-man roster. Bart and Hummel were shipped to the Pittsburgh Pirates and Houston Astros, respectively.

On the other hand, Tom Murphy (knee) and Patrick Bailey (concussion) have spent time on the injured list. This led to a brief stint for Jakson Reetz on the major league roster and Curt Casali rejoining the organization.

In Sacramento, Porter will join Reetz and Blake Sabol as the primary catchers. That said, neither Reetz nor Sabol are working behind the dish on a full-time basis. Reetz has typically been a multi-positional catcher, whereas Sabol has been seeing time at first base lately.

Porter is along the same lines as Reetz and Sabol in that he is not a full-time catching. He does not excel in terms of framing, blocking, or throwing, but he is a capable stopgap behind the plate.

The 28-year-old joined the Royals organization as an undrafted free agent out of Dixie State University after the 2018 college season. The minor league catcher went to college as a walk-on and continued his playing career as an undrafted free agent, so he has faced steep odds for a long time.

That said, the righty bat has performed well in the minors, posting a .279/404/.470 line with a 15.7 percent walk rate, 23.0 percent strikeout rate, and a .191 ISO across six minor league seasons. This includes a solid 1.003 OPS with six home runs and 22 RBI 138 Triple-A plate appearances in 2024.

The Royals rewarded Porter with a promotion to the majors late last season. He recorded six hits in 31 at-bats. He cleared waivers in the offseason and re-signed with the club on a minor league deal. With Salvador Perez and Freddy Fermin entrenched as Kansas City's catchers, there are not a lot of chances to crack the major league roster.

The Giants' catching situation might be more up in the air. Patrick Bailey is the team's starter. There is no doubt about that. However, Curt Casali has struggled in his brief return to the club. This feels like a precursor to another move even if that move is not immediately right around the corner.