Former SF Giants outfielder and first baseman Austin Dean will be heading to Korea in 2023 to play for the LG Twins. Dean will be the latest foreign-born player to join the Twins, receiving a one-year, contract worth up to $700,000. Dean will receive a $100,000 signing bonus, $400,000 annual salary, and another $200,000 in performance incentives.
Dean received a brief late-season call-up with the Giants this season, hitting .375/.444/.375 in three games, recording three singles and a walk in nine plate appearances. Otherwise, Dean spent the rest of the season with the Sacramento River Cats, the Giants Triple-A affiliate. Dean posted a .268/.345/.467 triple-slash in 115 games with the River Cats, racking up 17 doubles and 17 home runs.
Dean has appeared in every MLB season since 2018, amassing 365 big-league plate appearances with a .228/.286/.390 line with 21 doubles and 11 home runs. The Giants claimed Dean off waivers last November and designated him for assignment this spring. After he cleared waivers, they outrighted him to Triple-A.
Dean was a fourth-round pick by the Miami Marlins back in 2012. Selected out of high school, Dean climbed up the organization's minor-league ranks before receiving his first big-league call-up in 2018. Dean was mediocre over the next two years with the Marlins, but crushed Triple-A pitching. In 2018, Dean hit .326/.397/.475 at the highest level of the minors and performed even better in 2019, when he posted a .337/.401/.635 line.
The Marlins traded Dean to the St. Louis Cardinals for a minor leaguer prior to the 2020 season. Without a minor-league season in 2020, he only appeared in three games with the Cards. In 2021, injuries held Dean back. Despite a solid .742 OPS in 38 big-league plate appearances, Dean only appeared in 22 minor-league games and hit just .219/.339/.404 at Triple-A with the worst strikeout rate of his career.
Already 29, Dean likely received lukewarm interest from big-league teams on the free-agent market and almost certainly would have had to settle for a minor-league contract. By signing with the LG Twins, Dean will receive more guaranteed money and an opportunity to improve his resume for a potential return to MLB in the future.
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