Jake

Lamb

No real surprises here. Beck has a chance to make starts for the Giants in 2025, but was never going to make the Opening Day rotation. Meckler will likely be a bench option at some point this summer for San Francisco.

Lamb was signed to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training at the end of January. The 34-year-old will be reevaluated Tuesday to determine his next steps. Lamb’s quadriceps has been a constant problem for the veteran over the past few years.

Baa. Lamb provides the Giants with some extra first base depth heading into spring training behind LaMonte Wade Jr. and Wilmer Flores. The 34-year-old veteran slugger, who posted a .744 OPS with seven homers in 414 plate appearances last year at Triple-A Indianapolis, didn’t appear in the big leagues last season, but has appeared in 723 contests dating back to 2014.

The 33-year-old slugger was released by the Pirates early last week to give him the chance to explore opportunities elsewhere. Lamb surveyed the open market and ultimately decided that his best opportunity was to remain with the Pirates. He has hit .289/.380/.416 with four homers and 31 RBI in 234 plate appearances at Triple-A Indianapolis this season.

Baa. Lamb had an opt-out in his minor league contract with the Pirates, so the club decided to grant him his release to pursue another opportunity instead of promoting him to the majors. The 33-year-old veteran slugger has appeared in 723 contests in the big leagues since 2014. He was hitting .289/.380/.416 with four homers and 31 RBI across 234 plate appearances this season over 55 games for Triple-A Indianapolis.

McKinney was acquired in a trade with the Yankees in December after playing 48 games for New York this season. The 29-year-old has a career slash line of .209/.284/.390. The seven other players invited to major league spring training were INF Sergio Alcantara, OF Gilberto Celestino, RHP Ben Heller, INF/OF Jake Lamb, LHP Michael Plassmeyer, RHP Ryder Ryan, and RHP Hunter Stratton.

Lamb will be a non-roster invitee to spring training, which will give him a chance to make the Pirates, but the freedom to find another opportunity if he’s unable to do so. In 2023, Lamb hit just .216/.259/.353 with two homers and five RBI in 51 at-bats during his time with the Angels before being cut and signing a minor league deal with the Yankees. In 51 games at Triple-A, he hit .269/.396/.427 with six home runs and a 19.8 percent strikeout rate. He remains a longshot to make the Pirates Opening Day roster.

The 32-year-old slugger was cut loose by the Angels at the beginning of the month. He hit just .216/.259/.353 with two homers and five RBI in 51 at-bats during his time with the Angels.

Lamb passed through waivers unclaimed and has been cut loose by the Angels to presumably pursue an opportunity somewhere else. The 32-year-old will likely have to settle for a minor league contract after posting a .612 OPS in a bench role this season with Los Angeles.

With Victor Mederos requiring a spot on the 40-man roster on Friday, someone needed to get the boot, and unfortunately that target landed on Lamb on Friday. The 32-year-old has hit .216/.259/.353 with two homers and five RBI in 51 at-bats at the big league level this season. He could attract some interest on the waiver wire.