People pass a display at the Major League Baseball winter meetings Monday, Dec. 4, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — So dull these MLB Winter Meetings were for the Giants and most every other team, that even the Rule 5 draft came and went Wednesday without San Francisco or two-thirds of the league making a selection.
As Farhan Zaidi and his team of lieutenants departed the Music City, they left town with Giants’ 40-man roster unchanged from when they arrived.
Only 10 players were selected in the major-league portion of the Rule 5 draft, the fewest since 2013.
Picking 13th, the Giants passed on their selection for the first time under Zaidi. Last year’s pick, Blake Sabol, was among the most successful of the bunch.
The upside is San Francisco didn’t lose any players, either, despite leaving a couple raw prospects and promising relievers unprotected.
In the minor-league portion, which doesn’t come with the requirement that a player remains on the 26-man roster all season, the Giants added Nick Garcia, a 24-year-old right-hander from the Rockies organization, while they lost infielder Hayden Cantrelle, who had made it to Double-A Richmond but was plucked by the Cubs.
Garcia, a Redwood City native, was the 79th overall selection in the 2020 draft but struggled in his introduction to Double-A in 2023, posting a 7.35 ERA over 26 appearances (18 starts).
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Rule 5 results
