Giants Outright Andrew Knizner

The Giants announced that catcher Andrew Knizner has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Sacramento. He has the right to elect free agency and will presumably do so.

San Francisco entered the offseason needing to do a lot of roster maintenance. Eligible players become free agents as the offseason begins but the injured list goes away five days after the end of the World Series, meaning guys on the 60-day IL need to retake roster spots. As of a few days ago, RosterResource projected the Giants for a 40-man roster count of 56 once the IL was gone. Since then, they have been trimming things down. They lost Grant McCray and Braxton Roxby via waivers and outrighted Matt Gage, Jason Foley and Osleivis Basabe.

Knizner is the latest cut. The Giants signed him in August while Jesús Rodríguez and Daniel Susac were injured. Knizner shared the catching duties with Drew Cavanaugh down the stretch. Knizner got into 29 games and hit .219/.288/.356 with subpar defensive grades.

He finished the season with his service count between five and six years. He could have been retained for 2027 via arbitration, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting him for a $1MM salary. The Giants have instead moved on, allowing them to clear a roster spot in what is effectively an early non-tender. They will hope that Susac, Rodríguez and Cavanaugh can handle things behind the plate next year, though they could also upgrade that group with an external addition.

For Knizner, as mentioned, he is likely to elect free agency. He has that right as a player with at least three years of service time. His career numbers aren’t strong but he’s clearly valued in the league as a depth catcher. This was his eighth season getting at least some big league time. He will likely be limited to minor league offers.