The bullpen was the lone bright spot for the San Francisco Giants in what was otherwise a miserable opening series sweep against the New York Yankees. But that didn’t keep the team from seeking an upgrade, just a few days into the season.
On Monday afternoon, ahead of their second series of the year (against the San Diego Padres), the Giants announced a trio of moves: they acquired right-handed pitcher Dylan Smith from the Detroit Tigers in exchange for cash, designated for assignment infielder Tyler Fitzgerald, and traded outfielder Luis Matos to the Milwaukee Brewers for cash considerations.
The Giants are sending Smith, who has two option years remaining, to AAA Sacramento, where he’ll join Spencer Bivens, Tristan Beck, Carson Seymour, Blade Tidwell, and Trevor McDonald in a large group of rostered right-handers in the Minors (a group that also includes Gregory Santos and Michael Fulmer, if you count non-rostered players). Smith, who turns 26 in May, was a third-round pick in the 2021 draft, and signed for a few hundred thousand over slot, with a bonus in line with a late second-round selection. After so-so results with as a starter, the Tigers moved Smith to the bullpen last year, and the results were splendid. In AA, he posted a 1.80 ERA and a 1.64 FIP, with 27 strikeouts in 20 innings; in AAA, he had a 3.65 ERA and a 2.69 FIP, with 22 strikeouts in just 12.1 innings.
That earned Smith a Major League debut where, interestingly, the strikeout stuff did not play at all. While he had a delightful 1.38 ERA in seven big league appearances, his FIP with 4.37 and he had just four strikeouts in 13 innings.
Smith is primarily a two-pitch arm, as he relies heavily on his four-seamer and his sweeper, with the former averaging 94 mph in AAA last year. He also has a split-finger fastball, a curveball, and a sinker that he’ll use. He had some of the best chase and swing-and-miss metrics in AAA a year ago, but very poor batted ball data; interestingly, in his short MLB stint, the opposite was true.
To make room for Smith on 40-man roster, the Giants had to DFA Fitzgerald, their Opening Day second baseman last season. Fitzgerald, a fourth-round pick in 2019, captured Giants’ fans hearts with a stunning display of baseball brilliance in 2024. Through a five-week stretch spanning July and August, the righty hit 36-103, with a stunning 13 home runs in 26 games. But he fell hard after that: he hit just one home run over the remaining 36 games he played that season, and hit .217/.278/.327 in the Majors last year, which cost him his starting job and, eventually, his spot on the active roster. He also struggled in AAA last year, with just a .700 OPS and an 84 wRC+.
Given Fitzgerald’s speed (97th percentile in the Majors last year) and positional versatility (he’s competent at every position except catcher and pitcher), the Giants were surely hoping he could rebound this year. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen: he hit just 7-37 with 14 strikeouts in Spring Training, and went 0-12 with five strikeouts in the opening series for Sacramento. Given that the Giants have everyday players across the diamond, and two backup infielders already on the active roster (plus three rostered outfielders in AAA), there wasn’t an easy path for Fitzgerald to be able to utilize his depth. Given that he still has an option year remaining, he’ll almost certainly be claimed off of waivers.
And speaking of being claimed off of waivers, the Brewers clearly liked something that they saw from Matos, as they paid a fee to jump the line and acquire his services. Matos was designated for assignment before Opening Day, and the Giants knew the most likely scenario was that they lost him to the waiver wire. Since he’s out of options, the Brewers will have to carry him on their active roster, or try to sneak him through the waiver wire as well, which seems very unlikely.
Matos will be reunited with Kyle Harrison, where the pair will hope to materialize their once sky-high prospect status. There may be no better place to do that than in Milwaukee, where the Brewers have quite a reputation for developing young talent.