The Only Constant is Change

SF Giants Minor Lines, June 4, 2025

Photo Credit: Kylie Wetzel | Sacramento River Cats

As the old Giants’ fan meme went: Buster ain’t having it!

One day after Bryce Eldridge and Trent Harris headlined a bevy of moves up and down the system, an even greater shakeup took place — this one also involving the 1b position that has become such a black hole in the major league lineup. The sand falling through the Patience Dial apparently ran dry, and it’s come time to flip the thing over on its head and try again.

I’m quite pleased that I mentioned Dominic Smith as a potential option in this week’s mailbag, as well as a vague, if half-hearted note that we should probably be paying more attention to what Daniel Johnson was doing (on the other hand, suggesting that Johnson might be the one losing out on playing time in the Sacramento roster crunch yesterday was a take that certainly didn’t age well). But you have to feel great about a story like Johnson’s, drafted way back in 2016, picking up his first major league hit since 2021. Surely there’s been a lot of hard work and a lot of soul searching that has brought him to this second bite at the apple. And personally speaking, the fact that he’s a Vallejo native puts a smile on my face. Summer vacations at my aunt and uncle’s home in Vallejo (complete with a swimming pool) were the highlights of my year as child — and since those trips always involved driving in to Candlestick Park several days in a row, the association of Vallejo and Giants’ Baseball is very strong in my mind. Good luck, Daniel — and great first impression!

Of course the biggest — and saddest — aspect of yesterday was that the team chose to move on from my fellow Terp, LaMonte Wade, Jr., whose 9th inning exploits back in 2021 earned him one of the great Giants’ nicknames in recent memory, Late Night LaMonte. Acquiring Wade for Shaun Anderson was arguably the greatest heist of Farhan Zaidi’s tenure, and if it hadn’t been for all of these damned leg injuries, there would be no arguing it, I’d guess. Had his shot to right off Max Scherzer in Game 5 gone four feet or so to the left, he’d never have to buy a drink in San Francisco the rest of his life.

Farewell, Late Night LaMonte. You were a VERY good Giant. I hope you get your legs right, and find an opportunity with some East Coast team, so that your parents, who I believe were in attendance at every single game the Giants played in Philly, Baltimore, and DC the last five years, can see you play a little more often.

(Amazingly, that dramatic moment connects the careers of two different players DFA’d by the Giants in this 2025 season! Baseball is a wild adventure.)

HITTER of the NIGHT: Carter Howell (Rich), 2 for 4, HR, 2 RBI
PITCHER of the NIGHT: Niko Mazza (SJ), 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K

With all of this change going, it’s comforting to have our familiar routines to turn to. So, let’s get to the lines, where we have a big new talent making his season debut in Triple-A — and looked very comfortable with this new challenge. This season is starting to feel like it has a date with destiny, doesn’t it? It feels like we are heading inevitably towards a mid-summer moment when Mr. Eldridge gets his final promotion.