Giants bring up Rickard, DFA Rodríguez

SAN FRANCISCO -- In 2018, Dereck Rodríguez emerged as a revelation for the Giants, establishing himself as a National League Rookie of the Year candidate with a breakthrough season in the Majors. Two years later, the 28-year-old right-hander’s tenure with the organization could be over.

The Giants designated Rodríguez for assignment on Wednesday to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for outfielder Joey Rickard, who was summoned from the alternate training site in Sacramento. Right-hander Shaun Anderson was optioned to clear a spot on the 28-man roster.

When a player's contract is designated for assignment -- often abbreviated "DFA" -- that player is immediately removed from his club's 40-man roster. Within seven days of the transaction (it had been 10 days under the 2012-16 Collective Bargaining Agreement), the player can either be traded or placed on irrevocable outright waivers.

Rodríguez logged a 2.81 ERA over 118 1/3 innings for the Giants during his terrific rookie campaign and was a member of the 2019 Opening Day rotation, but he struggled to sustain his early success in the big leagues. He was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento last May and spent the rest of the season shuttling between the Majors and the Minors.

Rodríguez opened this year as a long-relief option for the Giants and appeared to show an uptick in velocity, but he allowed six runs over four innings (13.50 ERA) in two appearances.

"He has struggled to find consistency over the course of the last couple of years," manager Gabe Kapler said. "That doesn't mean that it's not in there, but his consistent stuff and strike-throwing ability, it just hasn't been there consistently enough. I think that was the decision there."

After designating Hunter Pence and placing Austin Slater on the injured list, the Giants decided to add Rickard to the 28-man roster to give them another right-handed-hitting outfielder. Rickard, 29, appeared in 26 games with the Giants last year, batting .280 with a .713 OPS and one home run.

"In Sacramento, he's been arguably the best player down there," Kapler said. "He has a track record at the Major League level. I think we always saw him as someone who could step into Austin Slater's role if something happened."

Brantly dealt to Yankees

The Giants traded one of their Opening Day catchers, Rob Brantly, to the Yankees in exchange for cash considerations on Wednesday. Brantly, 31, went hitless in three at-bats with the Giants before being designated for assignment to clear a roster spot for Chadwick Tromp. He remained with the organization after being outrighted off the 40-man roster and had been working out at the alternate training site.