SF Giants make minor swap with Kansas City Royals for intriguing young arm

The SF Giants have some activity going early this offseason. After making some roster moves last week, they have traded pitcher Mason Black to the Kansas City Royals in exchange for Logan Martin.

This news was reported by Bob Nightengale of USA Today on social media:

SF Giants make minor trade as they send Mason Black to Royals

The Giants designated Black for assignment last week. He spent time with the Giants in each of the last two seasons, but it seemed clear that the Giants were prepared to move on from him as he did not get many opportunities in 2025.

Black made his MLB debut in 2024 and showed some promise although he ultimately had a 6.44 ERA in 36 and 1/3 innings pitched. He had just one appearance with the Giants in 2025 and surrendered five earned runs in four innings of work.

His numbers with the Sacramento River Cats were not very good at all in 2025 as he had a 5.81 ERA in 119 and 1/3 innings pitched. It speaks volumes that even though the Giants dealt with a lot of depth issues on their pitching staff last season they went with practically all of their other options ahead of Black which showed that the writing was on the wall.

In exchange for Black, the Giants are getting 24-year-old Logan Martin from the Royals. In 2025 with Kansas City's high A-ball affiliate, Martin made 22 starts and had a 3.45 ERA in 91 and 1/3 innings pitched. He had just 78 strikeouts compared to 36 walks.

Here is what Anne Rogers of MLB.com wrote about Martin recently:

"Martin made 22 starts with High-A this season, posting a 3.45 ERA across 91 1/3 innings. In two starts this fall, he has allowed four runs (three earned) in 5 2/3 innings, with four walks and one strikeout. It has been a slower development for Martin, but he has been fairly durable the past two years. He has limited hits, but he doesn’t miss a lot of bats. The AFL is a chance for him to showcase his stuff against different prospects in a different setting."

Unfortunately, Martin struggled in the Arizona Fall League as he posted a 9.82 ERA in 11 innings pitched. Still, at the age of 24 Martin has some upside and could be an interesting addition to their minor league pitching depth.

The Giants are focused on making pitching depth a priority on the major league roster but it is nice to see with some of these initial roster moves that they are prioritizing pitching depth throughout the entire organization.