Giants add ex-Guardians, Orioles outfielder

The San Francisco Giants are firmly in the mix of the NL West as they’re only 2.5 games behind the first-placed Los Angeles Dodgers. Depth in the active roster, along with the minor league system, can go a long way, especially in the later portion of the regular season. On Friday, the front office made a move to improve the depth of the roster overall.

Reports indicate that the Giants are adding Daniel Johnson to the minor league roster, according to team beat writer Shayna Rubin. Johnson, who is 29 years of age, has played in the majors for the Cleveland Guardians and Baltimore Orioles in his career.

“Hearing the Giants are expected to sign outfielder Daniel Johnson to a minor league contract. Johnson,29, is a Vallejo native, lefty bat, and played 36 games with CLE and BAL. Has 5 home runs in 10 games in the Mexican League this year.”

Johnson’s tenure with the Guardians and Orioles is short. He made appearances for Cleveland in the 2020 and 2021 seasons before being sent back down to the minors. The veteran outfielder worked his way back to the majors in 2024, however, he only had one at-bat that season. Through 90 career at-bats, Johnson owns a .200 batting average and .242 OBP while hitting four home runs and five RBIs. All four of his home runs came in the 2021 season with the Guardians.

He seems to be playing rather well in the Mexican League, though. He’ll have the opportunity to prove himself in the minor leagues once again and potentially work his way to the Giants’ active roster. At the very least, Johnson could serve as a backup in case San Francisco is hit with a string of injuries in the outfield.

The Giants are set to take on the Colorado Rockies at 10:15 p.m. EST. It’s the second contest of a four-game series. San Francisco suffered a 4-3 loss to Colorado on Thursday evening and hopes to tie up the series 1-1 on Friday night.