River Cats 24-25 Offseason Update No. 1

With Thanksgiving (and all its leftovers) come and gone and all the kitchen stoves cooling off, the baseball hot stove is heating up as both MLB and MiLB teams start experimenting with their recipes for the 2025 campaign. Each team is building their holiday wish list, so let's dive in to what's in store for the Sacramento River Cats and their parent club, the eight-time World Series Champion San Francisco Giants.

ORDER OF EVENTS

The baseball offseason has officially been underway since the day following the Los Angeles Dodgers (yes, feel free to boo your computer now) captured their eighth World Series title over the New York Yankees on Oct. 30. While players could verbally opt out prior, players did not officially become free agents until 9 a.m. ET on Oct. 31.

Since then, both MLB and MiLB announced the 2024 Rawlings Gold Glove winners, and a flurry of qualifying contract offers were submitted prior to free agency opening on Nov. 4. More awards were announced in the following days including Silver Sluggers, Most Valuable Player and Cy Young, and the 2025 Hall of Fame ballot was released.

Both the GM meetings and Owners meetings have taken place, with the most recent piece of news from Jayson Stark in The Athletic that there is a "buzz" in MLB around the yet-to-be-proposed "Golden AB" rule (subscription required), while talks continue about automated balls and strikes, and how best to implement them.

Looking forward, the next deadline day on the calendar is the Hall of Fame's Classic Baseball Committee to unveil "players, managers, executives, pioneers and/or umpires who made their greatest impact on the game through 1979."

Next week also signals a big time for baseball, as the annual "MLB Winter Meetings" take place in Dallas from Dec. 8-11. One of the first things to watch for that week is the 2025 MLB Draft Lottery, similar to that held in the NBA and NHL. While there are some exceptions to the rules, all 18 non-playoff teams will have a shot at the No. 1 pick, but those with the worst records will have the highest odds. This year, both the Colorado Rockies and Miami Marlins have a 22.45 percent chance of earning the top pick, while the Giants have the eighth best odds at 1.90 percent (Chicago White Sox and The Athletics are not eligible).

One day later on Dec. 11, the MLB Rule 5 Draft takes place. Different from the MLB's annual draft, which for rule purposes is known as the Rule 4 Draft, the Rule 5 Draft allows teams to select players with a minimum number of service time that are not on a 40-man roster of another squad for a cost of $100,000. The selected player must remain on the 40-man roster (or injured list) for the entire season, or else be offered back to their original team. Giants fans should know this well, as that was how fans became familiar with the one and only Blake Sabol. Beyond that, it's all about the moves to make and how teams start to stack up in preparation for 2025.

Outside of next week, the next important dates won't arrive until January when the international signing period opens on Jan. 15, and the 2025 Hall of Fame Class is announced on Jan. 21.

READY TO DEPART?

So far, a total of 20 players from the San Francisco organization have elected free agency, including several names that were mainstays in the day-to-day of the 2024 River Cats. Among those names include:

• 2024 River Cats Best Teammate and MVP Donovan Walton
• 2024 River Cats Offensive Player of the Year Trenton Brooks
• Jakson Reetz
• Raymond Burgos
• Kai-Wei Teng
• Clay Helvey
• Spencer Howard

Walton has seen time with the River Cats over the past three seasons, and last year batted .306 (104-for-340) at the dish with 17 doubles, four triples, seven homers and 51 RBI. His contributions did not stop there, as he was tasked as a bit of a two-way player for the River Cats at times, ultimately going 2-1 with a 2.25 ERA over 12.0 innings in 10 games pitched. Memorably, he hit a home run at the plate and then eventually went on to be the winning pitcher of record during Sacramento's 9-8 extra-innings win over the Reno Aces on April 4. Walton, as well as Reetz, have both since signed minor league deals with the New York Mets and have been assigned to their Triple-A affiliate, the Syracuse Mets (Walton on Nov. 15; Reetz on Nov. 21). Reetz's power bat will be missed by the River Cats lineup, as he was the last River Cat to hit two homers in the same inning when he launched a solo dinger and later a grand slam in a battle against the Albuquerque Isotopes on July 30, 2023.

Meanwhile, one season after being named a Triple-A All-Star, Brooks hit his way to a .302 (100-for-331) mark with 18 doubles, 10 homers and 58 RBI, but is now on his way to the El Paso Chihuahuas after signing a minor league deal with the San Diego Padres. Helvey, one of two Giants relievers in the entire San Francisco organization to record 100 strikeouts as a reliever last year, put pen to paper with the Washington Nationals on Nov 15. As of this writing, the only other River Cat to depart has been Kolton Ingram, who will return to his home state of Georgia after signing a deal with the Atlanta Braves on Nov. 19.

NEXT MOVE

Knowing that the Rule 5 Draft is on the horizon, the Giants added two of the three Carsons in Sacramento last season to the 40-man roster: Carson Seymour and Carson Ragsdale. Seymour was the definition of durability for the River Cats last season, pitching in 29 games. (28 starts) and going 7-10 with 132 strikeouts in 134.1 cumulative innings. Seymour's six quality starts led the River Cats, and he finished in the PCL top 10 for six categories including ERA (4th) and strikeouts (3rd), all of which led him to finish the year as the River Cats' 2024 Pitcher of the Year. Meanwhile, Ragsdale first arrived in Sacramento at the end of June and made his Triple-A debut on June 29, ultimately closing his first River Cats season with a 2-4 record and 5.03 ERA in 53.2 innings. To make room for them both on the 40-man roster, Kai-Wei Teng was designated for assignment (and then later opted for free agency).

SIGN ON

San Francisco has been minimally active so far in free agency, though many moves are not completed until the start of the MLB Winter Meetings. Four players are set to join (or more aptly rejoin) the San Francisco organization, in order of their signing date:

• C Logan Porter (Nov. 14)
• RHP Juan Mercedes (Nov. 16)
• IF Sergio Alcantara (Nov. 18)
• C Max Stassi (Nov. 19)

Porter comes back to the River Cats after he was acquired in a trade for cash considerations from the Kansas City Royals on June 14 before being released on July 17. In his time with Sacramento Porter batted .253 (19-for-59) with two homers and 11 RBI, and cumulatively for the season hit .267 (66-for-247) in three stops with the Syracuse Mets and Omaha Storm Chasers.

It is projected that Porter will share backstop duties with Max Stassi, who's last name should be familiar as his elder brother, Brock, also played with the River Cats from 2018-2019. That will give Max a common bond with the Giants' 2019 first round pick Hunter Bishop, who also had his older brother, Braden, play with Sacramento during the 2021 campaign. Max was originally drafted by The Athletics with the 123rd overall pick in the 2009 Draft (4th round), and he will now be well traveled as he begins his seventh season in the Pacific Coast League after also spending time with Oklahoma City (2014; then known as the RedHawks), Fresno Grizzlies (2015-17), Round Rock Express (2019), and Salt Lake Bees (2021). Stassi missed all of the 2023 season due to injury, and played in just five games with the Charlotte Knights (AAA-CWS) on rehab in April before being placed on the 60-day Injured List.

Sergio Alcantara is another name familiar with the PCL, who spent part of last season with the Reno Aces (Arizona Diamondbacks) after he was traded by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Though he has played 192 games over three seasons with the Detroit Tigers, Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres and Diamondbacks, Alcantara has not seen time in the majors since the 2022 campaign when he batted .220 combined with both San Diego and Arizona. For the season, Alcantara batted .271 (111-for-409) with 21 doubles, eight homers, and 58 RBI in 123 games with the Indianapolis Indians and Reno Aces.

Mercedes comes to the River Cats after spending all of the 2024 season with the Arkansas Travelers (AA-SEA), where he pitched in 27 games and was 10-5 with a 2.87 ERA. One time did he throw a complete game, and struck out 126 to just 26 walks over the course of 144.1 innings pitched. Mercedes has yet to make his MLB debut and only in the 2022 season did he reach Triple-A, doing so in the 2022 campaign when he tossed three games (one start) for the Tacoma Rainiers and was 0-2 with a 6.30 ERA. Overall in his career Mercedes has seen time in 139 total MiLB contests while producing a 35-30 record and 4.09 ERA.