With Tony Vitello now at the helm as manager, the San Francisco Giants are wasting no time reshaping a roster that limped to an 81-81 finish in 2025, leaving them 12 games back of the division-champion Los Angeles Dodgers.
After moving longtime outfielder Mike Yastrzemski to Kansas City at the previous trade deadline, San Francisco continued bolstering its outfield depth on Friday with a low-cost acquisition.
Hours before the 5 p.m. ET cutoff for teams to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players or cut them loose, the Miami Marlins opted to deal 26-year-old outfielder Joey Wiemer instead of non-tendering him. Miami had designated the former top prospect for assignment earlier in the week, but rather than let him walk for nothing, the club shipped him to the Giants for cash considerations.
Originally a fourth-round selection by the Milwaukee Brewers in the shortened five-round 2020 draft, Wiemer rocketed through their minor-league system and reached Triple-A by 2022. Heading into the 2023 campaign, he carried significant hype: MLB Pipeline ranked him the 90th-best prospect in the game, Baseball Prospectus slotted him 65th, and he earned a spot in the 2022 Futures Game.
Within the Brewers’ organization, he was viewed as their third-best prospect that same year.
The big-league results, however, never matched the promise. In his 2023 debut, the 6-foot-4, 226-pound right-handed hitter posted a .283 on-base percentage across 410 plate appearances, managing just 75 hits and 36 walks. While he flashed raw power with 13 homers and 19 doubles, the overall production fell short of expectations.
Milwaukee moved on at the 2024 deadline, packaging Wiemer with another player to Cincinnati in exchange for starter Frankie Montas. His time in the Reds’ organization proved even shorter; later that winter, Cincinnati sent him and 2021 NL Rookie of the Year Jonathan India to Kansas City for righty Brady Singer.
The Royals waived him this past August, and Miami claimed him—only to flip him to San Francisco months later.
San Francisco surrendered no players in the deal, paying an undisclosed cash sum to land the toolsy outfielder.
For a San Francisco Giants club searching for upside under its new leadership, Wiemer represents a no-risk chance to recapture the promise that once made him one of baseball’s most intriguing young talents.