SF Giants release 14 prospects with Rookie League season on the horizon

The SF Giants released 14 players of their organization on Wednesday, less than a week before Rookie Ball gets underway.

With the start of Rookie Ball at the Arizona Complex League and the Dominican Summer League on the horizon, scheduled to start in the next week, the SF Giants released 14 prospects from their organization on Wednesday. All of the prospects were international free-agent signings and had never appeared in a game outside of the Dominican Summer League. While it's unclear exactly what prompted the releases, MLB teams face a cap on the number of players in their organization at any one time. However, certain designations can allow a team to exceed that limit. With Rookie Leagues no longer in a period of offseason, the Giants might have been forced to trim their organizational depth chart.

The majority of players released were pitchers; the team let go of nine total, including five righties and four lefties. Among the right-handed pitchers were German Malave, Daniel Rondon, Leandro Castillo, David Nuñez, and Erasmo Tortolero. Among them, the most effective was Malave, who notched 23 strikeouts over 26 total innings pitched, with an ERA of 3.46 and a WHIP of 1.54 last season in the DSL. 

Among the lefties were Daniel Espinoza, Argenis Perez, Luis Ochoa, and Pavel Duarte. Ochoa did not have any recorded stats, but of the other three, the standouts were Argenis Perez, who had a 3.38 ERA with 53 strikeouts over 53.1 innings, and Pavel Duarte, who recorded a 4.80 ERA with 51 strikeouts recorded over 45 innings.

The Giants also released two outfielders, Randy Arrieta and Juanel Urena, both 19-year-old righties with similar hitting numbers. Arrieta was a career .171/.284/.236 hitter, while Urena had a triple slash of .178/.342/.217 over a similar number of at bats. 

Their last three releases were infielders; the SF Giants let go of two shortstops in Yeison Lemos and Brandy Rosario, as well as second baseman Jose Alifonso. Alifonso slashed .133/.325/.204 last season in 98 at-bats with 43 strikeouts. Lemos was easily had the best prospect pedigree of any player released on Wednesday. The Giants signed him as a teenager for a $600,000 signing bonus in the 2019-20 IFA cycle. He flashed some power in his first pro season (2021), hitting .225/.306/.404 at the DSL, but took a massive step backward last year and posted a meager .157/.208/.247 line.