SF Giants likely waited too long before moving on from LaMonte Wade Jr.

The SF Giants designated LaMonte Wade Jr. for assignment on Wednesday. The front office wants to convey patience with its players, but in this case, they waited too long to make a move.

SF Giants likely waited too long before moving on from LaMonte Wade Jr.

The Giants were far too reactive to performance in recent seasons, leading to an aggressive roster churn. It also eroded any trust that the players had in the front office. Players knew that if they did not perform, they would quickly be replaced. That is not necessarily an environment that breeds success.

With Buster Posey now in charge, the Giants have been much more patient, perhaps, even to a fault. They deserve credit for sticking with Landen Roupp after a mildly disappointing April. He won the final rotation spot out of spring training, even if Hayden Birdsong put up a good fight. Now, both are in the rotation and doing well.

In recent years, the Giants would have likely moved Roupp to the bullpen after a couple of rough starts. They stuck with him, and he has a 3.18 ERA through 12 starts.

With Wade Jr., they probably should have been more reactive. He slumped to a .657 OPS in 191 plate appearances during the second half of last season. That carried over into this year, as he struggled to a .546 OPS in 169 plate appearances.

The Giants waited and hoped the left-handed bat would rebound, but it never came to fruition. Their gamble did not pay off. First base is a bat-first position. If a player is not hitting, you have to find someone who can.

Teams can be patient with certain positions. Catcher is an example of that. Patrick Bailey slumped in the second half of last year and continues to struggle at the plate. His slum timeline mirrors that of Wade Jr. Bailey offers elite defense behind the plate, and that is a tradeoff teams make.

Sure, Wade Jr. hits from the left side. That has value to a right-heavy lineup. How important is that trait given his struggles? It feels like a shallow excuse given the number of veteran left-handed bats in Triple-A at the moment. The Giants could have picked up the phone and worked out a trade.

They did add Dom Smith to the roster on Wednesday. Smith checks all the same boxes that Wade Jr. did. Even if Smith hits anywhere near his .717 career OPS, it would be a substantial improvement over the production they have gotten so far at first base.

This is probably the type of move the Giants should have made sooner. Was the offseason too soon? He had a track record, and the Giants were betting on that. Nevertheless, signs of regression were there. Was the beginning of May too soon? Probably not all. It was a slow start after a sluggish finish to the 2024 season. They waited nearly five baseball months to make a move.

The point is, the Giants could and should have made a move sooner. They do not want to be too reactive, and that is a tough line to straddle between patience at times. However, they just cannot have a slump at a position like first base go on for as long as it did.