Giants Add Extra Minor League Depth with First Base, Pitching Signings

The San Francisco Giants made three signings before the holiday that could be of note during spring training.

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The San Francisco Giants added a pitcher and two first basemen to minor league deals just before Christmas, according to the Giants’ transaction log.

The transactions weren’t announced and didn’t immediately hit their transaction log due to the holidays. Major League teams and MLB shut down for the final week of the year. Business can still be conducted but it doesn’t always hit transaction logs. On Monday, the Giants made their one-year deal with Tyler Mahle official.

The Giants signed pitcher Caleb Kilian along with first basemen Jake Holton and Buddy Kennedy.

Giants Latest Minor League Signings

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Kilian, and Kennedy have Major League experience, so their deals likely come with invitations to Major League spring training. That’s unclear about Holton, who has never played in the Majors.

Kilian, a right-hander, has made eight MLB appearances, all with the Chicago Cubs. He went 0-4 with a 9.22 ERA, with 21 strikeouts and 20 walks in 27.1 innings. After last season he elected free agency. After the signing, the Giants assigned him to Triple-A Sacramento.

Kilian is coming home in a sense. He was the Giants’ eighth-round pick in 2019 out of Texas Tech. He, along with outfielder Alexander Canario, were traded to the Cubs in 2021 for Kris Bryant. As a minor league player, he is 23-12 with a 3.78 ERA in 104 games, with 83 starts. He has 406 strikeouts and 135 walks in 407.2 innings.

Kennedy bounced around to three different teams in 2025 — Philadelphia, Toronto and the Los Angeles Dodgers — but only played in 13 MLB games. He has also played for Arizona and Detroit since he made his MLB debut in 2022. In 67 MLB games he has a career slash of .178/.271/.274 with two home runs and 20 RBI.

He wrapped up last season with the Blue Jays and elected for free agency in November. He was a fifth-round pick of the Diamondbacks in 2017 out of Millville High School in Millville, N.J. He has played in 692 minor league games and has a career slash of .283/.379/.437 with 66 home runs and 349 RBI.

Holton was the Detroit Tigers’ 10th round pick in 2019 out of Creighton. He spent his entire minor league career in the Tigers’ system, getting as high as Double-A Erie. In November, he was given his free agency. In 564 minor league games he has a career slash of .257/.349/.479 with 69 home runs and 315 RBI. He’s been named a minor league player of the week twice in his career.