Giants protect 3 prospects, part with 2 pitchers
The Giants maneuvered their 40-man roster Friday to add three prospects, protecting them from the upcoming Rule 5 draft, and part with two pitchers.
Outfielder Heliot Ramos and right-handed pitchers Sean Hjelle and Randy Rodriguez were added to the 40man roster. Reliever Jay Jackson was designated for assignment and right-hander Dedniel Núñez, a Rule 5 selection last year from the Mets, was returned to New York.
Ramos, Hjelle and Rodriguez will not be eligible for selection by another team in the Rule 5 draft, which is scheduled for early December, pending a potential work stoppage amid negotiations on a new CBA.
Prospects generally need to be protected from Rule 5 eligibility after four professional seasons if drafted or signed at 19 or older and after five seasons if drafted or signed at 18 or younger.
Ramos is just 22 but was drafted by the Giants in the first round in 2017 out of Puerto Rico. He was a nobrainer to protect. The outfielder is the third-ranked prospect in the Giants’ system and participated in his third Futures Game at All-Star week this year.
Ramos stood out in spring at the Giants’ big-league camp before starting the season at Double-A. He hit .237 with a .756 OPS in 62 games for Richmond. Promoted to Triple-A Sacramento in late July, he batted .272 with a .722 OPS in 54 games.
Hjelle, 24, is perhaps the Giants’ most developed starting prospect. The 6-foot-11 right-hander split this season between Double-A (a 3.15 ERA in 14 starts) and Triple-A (a 5.74 ERA in 10 starts) and totaled 104 strikeouts in 119 innings.
With four Giants starters from 2021 now free agents, president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said recently that Hjelle could be a rotation factor at some point in 2022: “Given he’s already been in Triple-A, there’s really a good chance of that.”
Rodriguez, 22, posted impressive numbers in his first season above rookie ball. In 32 games as a reliever, Rodriguez had a 1.74 ERA with 101 strikeouts and 44 hits allowed in 62 innings. The right-hander signed with the Giants out of the Dominican Republic in 2017.
Jackson, 34, appeared in 23 games for the Giants this season, compiling a 3.74 ERA over 212⁄3 innings. The Giants announced this month they had exercised a club option on Jackson for 2022. Jackson owns a career 4.31 ERA in the majors over 57 games with the
Giants, Brewers and Padres.
In December, the Giants selected Núñez from the Mets in the major-league portion of the Rule 5 draft. Núñez had Tommy John surgery in March after being diagnosed with a strained UCL but remained on the Giants’ roster all season on the 60-day injured list; otherwise, the Giants would have needed to offer him back to the Mets previously.
Núñez, 25, has not pitched above A-ball. He owns a 4.47 ERA in 37 games (30 starts) in the minors since being signed by the Mets as an international free agent in 2016.