ORLANDO — The Giants pulled off a clever deal that potentially addresses a need on their major-league roster before departing the Winter Meetings on Wednesday.

No, it wasn’t their most glaring need. And no, it wasn’t the kind of deal that will tie up phone lines in the ticket sales office. The Giants arrived at the Signia by Hilton Bonnet Creek and Waldorf Astoria with significant deficiencies and they rolled out Wednesday afternoon as a mostly unimproved club. But progress is progress, even if it’s just a move to add catching depth and potentially raise the floor of their roster.

They tried earlier this offseason to swing a deal with the A’s for 24-year-old catcher Daniel Susac, a first-round pick in 2022, and when they were unable to match up, they lied in wait. The A’s hadn’t placed Susac on their 40-man roster to shield him from the Rule 5 draft. So barely 15 minutes before the proceedings on Wednesday, the Giants struck a deal with the Minnesota Twins, who took Susac with the fourth pick and then flipped him for teenage catching prospect Miguel Caraballo and cash.

Susac immediately becomes the front-runner to back up Gold Glove catcher Patrick Bailey in San Francisco. He’s also poised to become the second member of the Susac family to wear a Giants uniform. His older brother, Andrew, was the Giants’ second-round pick in 2011 and played in parts of six major-league seasons, including 87 games for San Francisco in 2014-15. Andrew Susac won a World Series ring in 2014, when he was on the Giants’ roster for each round of postseason play and went 1-for-4 off the bench while serving as Buster Posey’s backup.

Posey, now the Giants’ president of baseball operations, departed Orlando without adding to a rotation and bullpen that appears more than an arm or two short. The Giants were among the teams to engage the Miami Marlins on Edward Cabrera, a right-handed starter with three years of club control who is expected to be moved this winter. But the asking price was prohibitively high, according to sources. It would set a disturbing market precedent for the Giants if the Marlins get back the haul they are demanding for Cabrera, who posted a 3.53 ERA in 26 starts last season but also dealt with elbow soreness while exceeding 100 major-league innings for the first time.

The Giants remain in dual mode while exploring trades and free-agent signings. If there’s any intelligence to be gained from these meetings, it’s that the free-agent front might hold more promise when it comes to addressing their rotation.

“I don’t know if there was much more that we could do as far as conversations and meetings,” Giants GM Zack Minasian said. “I feel like some things are heading in the right direction. It’s tough to handicap when a deal is going to get done, but we try to put our best foot forward, and think we’ve shown we’re willing to be aggressive. Some things we feel like maybe there’s a path. So we’ll see where it goes. Right now, it’s still kind of anyone’s guess.”

Was it a disappointing Winter Meetings for the Giants? If the answer is yes, then you’re probably giving the question more weight than it deserves. No, the Giants didn’t sign Kyle Schwarber or Pete Alonso. They stood to the side as the archrival Los Angeles Dodgers turned on their money spigot and gave All-Star closer Edwin Díaz a three-year, $69 million contract. But the Giants were never in the running for those players. And at least they got some draft lottery luck here, moving up from a mid-round pick to No.4 when long odds broke their way.

Maybe catching depth wasn’t the Giants’ primary need, but it was on the list. The organization is high on Jesus Rodriguez, the contact-hitting Triple-A catcher they acquired last July in the deal that sent All-Star closer Camilo Doval to the New York Yankees. But Rodriguez is still refining his skills behind the plate and the Giants sought to create alternatives.

Although they’re still expected to bring in an experienced catcher or two to camp on minor-league contracts, after acquiring Daniel Susac, they appear willing to go with youth and upside.

Susac delivers!

Aviators add on in the 7th! 💪#AviatorsUp pic.twitter.com/9uXEXNDhq3

— Las Vegas Aviators (@AviatorsLV) September 24, 2025

“Plus defender behind the plate, power, history with him back to high school through the draft, Bay Area ties, and it’s a position of need,” Minasian said of Daniel Susac, who went to Jesuit High in Sacramento and the University of Arizona. “Still young, still upside. So a lot of positives, a lot of boxes checked, and excited to give him this opportunity.”

Daniel Susac, who is a free swinger with power — he hit .275/.349/.483 with 18 home runs for Triple-A Las Vegas last season — and his right-handedness makes him a potential fit with Bailey, a switch hitter who has been more productive from the left side. Susac didn’t have a noticeable platoon split last season but has been historically better against left-handed pitching.

Rule 5 provisions continue to apply. Susac must remain on the major-league roster all season or be offered back to the A’s for half the $100,000 claiming fee. But the Giants signaled a strong inclination to keep him. In addition to paying the $100,000 fee, the Giants gave up a 17-year-old catcher, Caraballo, who received a $150,000 signing bonus last January and acquitted himself well in the Dominican Summer League (.432 OBP, five home runs, eight stolen bases in 41 games).

“Obviously he’s gonna have to come in and earn it, but to take him shows what we think of him and we definitely see him as a really strong candidate,” Minasian said. “Excited about where our catching depth is with him. All the reports we have is he’s continued to improve as a defender and as an offensive player. So we feel like he’s trending to becoming a better and better player.”

Of course, there are reasons that the A’s would decline to protect a catcher who was the 19th player taken in the 2022 draft. Susac posted a 26.8 percent strikeout rate at Triple-A. The A’s were sufficiently concerned about Susac’s bat that they prioritized re-signing well-traveled veteran backup Austin Wynns to provide depth behind starting catcher Shea Langeliers.

A’s president David Forst said Susac has made steady progress with his catch-and-throw skills but acknowledged that “he may be challenged offensively. Vegas has a way of helping some guys’ numbers, but that’s the case with anybody in this situation. The bat will determine, probably, if he’s able to stick.”

“I’m happy for Daniel,” Forst said. “That’s what the Rule 5 draft is for — opportunity. I called him when we made the decision not to put him on the roster and said we knew this was a risk and certainly wished him well if he did get selected. So I hope it works out for him.”

The Giants lost two pitchers in the major-league phase of the Rule 5 draft. Ryan Watson, a big-bodied right-hander whom they had acquired in 2024 from the Baltimore Orioles, had a good showing in winter ball and was taken by the A’s, who immediately traded him to the Boston Red Sox. The Giants also lost Spencer Miles to the Toronto Blue Jays after the hard-throwing right-hander demonstrated his health in the Arizona Fall League.

The Giants were quiet in the minor-league phase and lost five players: RHP Junior Flores (Pirates), OF Carter Howell (Braves), RHP Ryan Murphy (Cardinals), RHP Jan Caraballo (Tigers) and RHP Evan Gates (Phillies). Murphy, 26, dazzled in the low minors after the Giants took him in the fifth and final round of the truncated 2020 draft out of LeMoyne College. But elbow inflammation derailed his progress and he didn’t have the same success in parts of three seasons at Double-A Richmond.