SAN FRANCISCO — Buster Posey has executed his first true shakeup — and made his first truly difficult decision.
The Giants announced a flurry of roster moves on Wednesday morning, the headliner being the decision to designate first baseman LaMonte Wade Jr. for assignment.
Additionally, San Francisco designated backup catcher Sam Huff for assignment and optioned infielder Christian Koss to Triple-A Sacramento. To fill their three vacant roster spots, the team has signed first baseman Dominic Smith to a major-league contract and selected outfielder Daniel Johnson and catcher Andrew Knizner from Sacramento.
“From my vantage point now, it’s looking at ‘Are there different options out there? What are the different options internally?’” Posey told beat reporters on Tuesday afternoon. “We’re at a strange point in the season as far as other teams’ willingness to make trades at this point with us being still a couple of months away (from the trade deadline). From our perspective as a front office, we’re not satisfied with the production. So, we’re trying to exhaust all options.”
This series of roster moves comes as the Giants are in the midst of one of their worst offensive stretches in recent memory.
San Francisco has failed to score more than four runs in a single game since Wilmer Flores hit three homers against the Athletics, the team’s longest such streak since 1965. The Giants have scored 32 runs over their last 16 games, posting a collective .594 OPS and 14-for-105 (.133) with runners in scoring position over this stretch. The last time the team posted 32 runs (or fewer) over a 16-game span was 1992.
Wade, who played alongside Posey as the Giants won a franchise-record 107 games, was far from the only Giant struggling at the plate during this specific stretch. That said, the 31-year-old first baseman has been unproductive the entire season.
Over 50 games, Wade posted a .167/.275/.271 slash line with one home run. By WAR, he had been the least valuable player on the Giants. Wade’s lack of productivity hasn’t been limited to this season either; since the second half of last season, Wade has hit .188/.297/.308 and been 26 percent worse than a league average hitter.
Wade, acquired in a trade with the Minnesota Twins in Feb. 2021, earned the moniker “Late Night LaMonte” in ’21 for his numerous late-game heroics. He hit .253 with 18 home runs and 56 RBIs in his first season as a Giant, winning the Willie Mac Award in the process. Prior to this season, Wade had a career .767 OPS (115 OPS+) with the Giants.
“We’ve been as consistent with him as we have been because of the track record,” Posey said on Tuesday of Wade. “I’ve watched this guy play for quite a while now and I know that it’s in there. We just have to find a way to get more runs across the board as well as we’ve pitched. We need a little bit more.”
Smith, 29, posted a .782 OPS over 45 games with the New York Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate before opting out of his contract over the weekend. Smith has a career .717 OPS in the majors over eight major-league season, most of his career being with the New York Mets.
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Johnson, 29, was born in Vallejo and attended Jesse Bethel High School before attending New Mexico State. He has played 36 games over parts of three major-league seasons and had a .846 OPS with Triple-A Sacramento.
Knizner, 30, will become Patrick Bailey’s new backup catcher. He has played six major-league seasons, five of them being with the St. Louis Cardinals, posting a career .596 OPS with -21 defensive runs saved.
Check back for additional updates.