Giants Sign Long-Time Cubs Farmhand Brad Depperman to Minor League Deal

The San Francisco Giants are going to give a long-time Chicago Cubs prospect a chance to impress them at Triple-A this season.

A San Francisco Giants hat with stars around the interlocking SF logo to celebrate the armed services. | Robert Edwards-Imagn Images

The offseason is all about gambles, great and small. For the San Francisco Giants, one of those gambles is Brad Deppermann.

The Giants recently signed the long-time Chicago Cubs minor league pitcher to a deal and assigned him to Triple-A Sacramento. It’s not clear if the deal comes with an invitation to Major League spring training. He has never pitched in a Major League game, and the 29-year-old from Indianapolis, Indiana, will play his seventh professional season on the west coast.

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About Giants Prospect Brad Depperman

A general view of Oracle Park and McCovey Cove from section 302. | Robert Edwards-Imagn Images

The Cubs selected Depperman in the seventh round of the 2019 MLB draft out of North Florida. Chicago deployed him in their minor league system immediately and he’s never pitched higher than Double-A Knoxville.

In an odd twist, he played for his first full-season affiliate in 2019, the Eugene Emeralds, which at the time was part of the Cubs’ system. The High-A affiliate is now part of the San Francisco organization.

In that first season he went a combined 2-1 with a 3.86 ERA with Eugene and the Arizona Complex League Cubs. He pitched in seven games and 11.2 innings of relief. Deppermann has started only five of his 112 minor league appearances.

Like all other minor league players in 2020, he didn’t play due to the COVID-19 pandemic shutting down minor league affiliates. But in six seasons he had never appeared in more than 19 games in a season until 2025, when he pitched 41 times for Knoxville. It could be argued that was his best season.

He went 4-2 with a 2.76 ERA, his best ERA in a complete season. He struck out 42 hitters and walked 11 in 45.2 innings. He also recorded six holds, with five saves in eight chances. It could be a sign that the right-hander is rounding into form as a pitcher that could be ready to make a Major League appearance, if he can take his performance at Double-A and duplicate it at Triple-A.

Since December, the Giants have signed several players to minor league deals, including right-handed pitcher Gregory Santos, first baseman Jake Holton, outfielder Jared Oliva, left-handed pitcher Nick Margevicius, right-handed pitcher Alexis Gonzalez, catcher Eric Haase and right-handed pitcher Mitch White.

San Francisco fired manager Bob Melvin after the season and hired Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello to be the new manager. Vitello and president of baseball operations Buster Posey have been working to prepare for spring training next month in Arizona.