SF Giants swing trade for Baltimore Orioles Minor League Pitcher of…

SF Giants swing trade for Baltimore Orioles Minor League Pitcher of the Year

While the trade deadline passed at the end of July, there can still be some player movement. The first channel is through trades involving players not currently on the 40-man roster. The other channel is through teams placing or putting in claims on players who are on waivers.

However, when a team is awarded the trade, that completes the transaction. There is no trade that takes place like there used to be. In the past, players could be moved after the July  trade deadline if they cleared waivers. Teams would place much of their roster on waivers and if they cleared, they would be eligible to be moved. The rules for this were complicated, but they have been simplified with the elimination of the August waiver trade period.

Watson was eligible to be moved given that he was not on the Orioles’ 40-man roster. He can still be added to San Francisco’s 40-man roster and is eligible for the playoffs given that he is joining the Giants organization before the end of August.

These could all be moot points as the addition of Watson could be just to bolster pitching depth in the upper minors. The 26-year-old pitcher was originally selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 39th round of the 2016 draft but he did not sign. He did join the Orioles organization as an undrafted free agent in 2020.

In four minor league seasons, the righty pitcher has tallied a 4.14 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 9.3 K/9, and a 2.98 SO/W rate while serving as a swingman on the pitching staff. This includes a solid 2022 campaign where he registered a 3.44 ERA in 27 appearances, including 18 starts, with 108 strikeouts against only 29 walks in 107.1 frames. He was selected as Baltimore’s minor league Pitcher of the Year that season.

On the mound, the pitching prospect flashes a low-to-mid 90’s four-seam fastball with a curveball, slider, and an occasional splitter. The curveball gets two-plane movement, whereas the slider sweeps across the plate. His four-seam fastball is his go-to pitch, but he mixes in the slider and curveball evenly after that.

For the time being, Watson will serve as pitching depth in the minors. However, moves late in the year like this tend to have an impact on the 40-man roster down the road.