Giants Trade Utility Infielder Tyler Fitzgerald to Blue Jays to Avoid Waivers

The San Francisco Giants and Tyler Fitzgerald have officially parted ways.

Both the Giants and the Toronto Blue Jays announced on Saturday that San Francisco traded the middle infielder to the Blue Jays for cash considerations. Toronto immediately optioned Fitzgerald to Triple-A Buffalo.

San Francisco designated Fitzgerald for assignment on Monday and were running out of time to either trade him or put him on waivers, where any team could have claimed him. Had he gone unclaimed, he could have been assigned to Triple-A Sacramento. That he was traded is probably a sign that the Giants expected someone to claim him and the Blue Jays had interest but expected a team to claim him before he got to them.

Tyler Fitzgerald’s Time with Giants Ends

Fitzgerald was the Giants’ fourth-round pick in the 2019 MLB draft out of Louisville. The middle infielder made his Major League debut in 2023 and in 10 games gave San Francisco a taste of what was his career season in 2024.

He played in nearly 100 games that season and slashed .280/.334/.497 with 15 home runs and 34 RBI. He also had 19 double, two triples and 17 stolen bases. He played most of his games at shortstop that season, but he lost the job when San Francisco signed Willy Adames to a long-term deal. He was the natural choice to move to second base, but his bat regressed last season, and he allowed players like Casey Schmitt and Christian Koss to catch up to him.

He slashed .217/.278/.327 with four home runs and 14 RBI. He had 10 doubles, a triple and nine stolen bases last season. The Giants signed Luis Arraez to a one-year deal, which required Fitzgerald to make the team as a utility player, but he was optioned to Sacramento near the end of spring training.

The Giants have made several moves in the past few days, and Fitzgerald is the third trade San Francisco has made this week.

The Giants traded outfielder Luis Matos to the Milwaukee Brewers after designated him for assignment last week to clear space on the opening day roster. San Francisco also acquired pitcher Dylan Smith from the Detroit Tigers and optioned him to Sacramento.

Catcher Eric Haase cleared waivers and was assigned to Sacramento earlier this week.

Relief pitcher José Buttó was placed on the 15-day injured list with right arm fatigue on Thursday, which was later determined to be a blood clot. He was supposed to have surgery on Friday and his timeline for return to is not clear. In his place, the Giants called up pitcher Blade Tidwell from Sacramento, who recorded his first MLB save on Thursday.