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In a stunning development, Farhan Zaidi has passed up an opportunity for a transaction.
The Giants did not do any shuffling by the Wednesday deadline for adding prospects to the roster, not protecting any with the Rule 5 Draft coming Dec. 12.
That means there are several prospects the Giants could lose if another team swipes them — but it also probably means the Giants don’t anticipate any being lost, with the eligible prospects mostly fringe or too far off. The Giants’ 40-man roster is filled, so adding anyone to it would mean subtracting someone else.
A 2019 Rule 5 selection must last the entire 2020 season on the 25-man roster; if he falls off, he would be offered back to his original team. Relief pitchers who haven’t broken through to the majors are usually a commodity.
There’s a chance the Giants could lose No. 28 prospect Garrett Williams, a lefty starter/reliever with a 3.60 ERA in 110 Double-A Richmond innings last season. Tyler Cyr, a 26-year-old righty, could be lost after posting a 2.05 ERA with 57 strikeouts in 48 1/3 innings with Richmond.
The top prospect San Francisco didn’t protect is Sandro Fabian, the 16th-ranked in the organization and, at 21, still probably a couple years away. In 44 games with High-A San Jose, the outfielder from the Dominican Republic slashed .287/.353/.413.
Franklin Labour falls in the same category, the No. 20 prospect just 21 years old, having played 31 games with Class-A Augusta this year. Opposing teams likely won’t want to use a 25-man roster spot on a player who can’t help soon.
Ricardo Genoves, a catcher who, at 20, also has not yet made it past Augusta, also is not protected. Jalen Miller, a 22-year-old infielder, batted .216 with Richmond last season and should be bypassed in the draft.
Matt Daniels, whom the Giants hired from Driveline — a data-driven baseball program — last year as director of pitching analysis, is being retained, he announced. He said his new title would be director of pitching sciences.