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The Buster Posey administration made perhaps the toughest decision of its short reign by designating LaMonte Wade Jr. for assignment Wednesday amid a flurry of roster moves.
The Giants also designated catcher Sam Huff for assignment, optioned infielder Chirstian Koss, signed veteran first baseman Dominic Smith, and promoted outfielder Daniel Johnson and catcher Andrew Knizner from Triple-A Sacramento.
Wade was Posey’s teammate, a popular player and, until this season, a productive hitter after joining the Giants four years ago and earning his “Late Night LaMonte” nickname by thriving in clutch situations, especially during the historic 107-win journey in 2021.
However, Wade has slumped all season and didn’t reach base at a high clip as he did the past three seasons. He was hitting .167 with a .275 on-base percentage and .546 OPS, all career lows, by far, and the desperate-for-offense Giants chose to let him go.
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Smith, 29, was playing for the Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate and hit .255 with a .781 OPS in 45 games before opting out of his contract over the weekend.
Johnson, a former fifth-round pick of the Nationals and Vallejo native, is 18-for-90 in his brief major league career and has been the top hitter from Triple-A Sacramento this season, where he hit .272 with an .846 OPS.
Knizner will replace Huff as the backup catcher to Patrick Bailey after an eight-game stint with Triple-A Sacramento. Knizner opened the season with the Nationals’ Triple-A affiliate and is batting .378 in 98 minor-league at-bats this season.
Posey hinted at what was to come in an interview with reporters Tuesday. Asked how he’s coping with his anemic offense, Posey said, “Yeah, what else are you going to do? You keep showing up, right? You keep showing up, and from my vantage point now, are there different options out there? What are different options internally?
“We’re at a strange point in the season as far as other teams’ willingness to make trades at this point with us being still a couple of months away (from the trade deadline). Yeah, you keep showing up, but definitely from our perspective as a front office, we’re not satisfied with the production. So we’re trying to exhaust all options.”
One reporter suggested that Smith would be in the clubhouse the next day, and Posey said, “We shall see.”
Unless Wade is claimed by another team on waivers this week, the Giants are on the hook for the remainder of his $5 million salary for this season.
Posey has demonstrated patience with struggling players in his first year as president of baseball operations, but an anemic stretch from the Giants’ offense that included back-to-back losses to the Padres to open the week left him with no choice but to make changes. Of all the moves the Giants made Wednesday, the decision to take Wade off the roster represents the biggest shakeup.
“I’ve got to clean up a lot of stuff,” Wade told The Standard in April. “I’m not helping at all at the plate. I’ve got to get better. I’ve got to hold myself accountable. I’m not happy with the way I’m playing. I’m happy with the way our team is playing [the Giants were 13-5 at the time], but I’ve got to pick up my part of it, too. I’ve got to do my job, and I’m not doing my job.”
The fact that Wade won the Willie Mac Award in 2021, an honor that players vote on for the team’s most inspirational player, shows how respected and valued he was in the clubhouse.
The Giants acquired Wade in a Feb. 4, 2021, trade that sent pitcher Shaun Anderson to the Twins, one of the best moves by former president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi. In his first three seasons in San Francisco, Wade posted a .353 OBP and .767 OPS. He played mostly outfield in the Twins’ organization but blossomed into a good defensive first baseman in San Francisco.
After Wade’s .380 OBP last season, tied for eighth-best among hitters with at least 400 plate appearances, the Giants unofficially designated him as the placeholder at first base for top prospect Bryce Eldridge, 20, who earned a promotion to Triple-A Sacramento on Tuesday.
But Wade, a free agent after the season, opened 0-for-16 with zero walks, a sign of what was to come. Even when he struggled with the bat, he always was able to draw walks and get on base. He finished April hitting .125 with a .253 OBP and improved in May (.219, .296) but not nearly enough for management to keep him around.
Wade was hit on his right hand by a pitch in Monday’s game and diagnosed with a contusion, not a fracture. He did some drills before Tuesday’s game, and the Giants deemed he was well enough to play without needing to spend time on the injured list. That made him eligible to be designated for assignment.
Without Wade, Smith is the lone left-handed hitting infielder on the roster. Smith is in line to earn significant playing time at first base, but Encarnación, Casey Schmitt, and Wilmer Flores can all play the position as well.
Certainly, Wade wasn’t alone in his struggles.
The Giants have played 16 consecutive games without scoring as many as five runs in a game – the team’s last such stretch was in 1965 – and have stayed in the playoff hunt only because of their pitching.