SF Giants release veteran minor league southpaw pitcher from Triple-A club

The SF Giants trimmed minor league headcount over the weekend. Veteran minor league pitcher Juan Sánchez was released, per the team’s transaction log.

Sánchez was one of the longest-tenured players in the organization. He joined the Giants as an international free agent out of Venezuela during the 2017-2018 signing cycle.

The Giants had a relatively light cycle that year and did not sign any of the top available prospects. This was largely due to the Lucius Fox signing from 2015, which exceeded their allotted bonus pool.

In the past, baseball would still allow this signing but they would penalize the team over the next two cycles by preventing them from signing a player for over $300,000. Now, baseball does not allow teams to go over their bonus pool.

The year that the Giants signed Sánchez was the second year of that penalty. Luis Toribio headlined that class with a $300,000 signing bonus out of the Dominican Republic. Sánchez’s signing bonus was never reported.

SF Giants lefty was knocking on the door for a promotion for years

For years, it felt like the lefty pitcher was knocking on the door for a major league promotion. This included a solid showing in the Cactus League in 2024, where he posted a 2.61 ERA with 13 strikeouts and four walks in 10.1 innings. It was one of the bigger surprises that he did not make the club that year.

Unfortunately, Sánchez followed that by struggling with his control, walking 28 batters in 34.1 innings for the Sacramento River Cats. He eventually underwent Tommy John surgery and missed the entire 2025 regular season.

The 25-year-old pitcher received an invite to the Arizona Fall League last season and posted a 2.70 ERA in seven outings. He also received an invite to spring training but did not make the club.

The Giants had several lefty options on the 40-man roster and in the upper minors ahead of Sánchez on the depth chart. Despite that, they have struggled from the left side of the bullpen this year.

Sánchez pitched to an 8.16 ERA with 16 strikeouts and 21 walks in 14.1 innings for the River Cats this year. Teams are often light on minor league roster spots around this time of this year, so that was likely a factor in his release.

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