SF Giants trade for outfielder who excelled at Triple-A last year

The San Francisco Giants have been active at the top end of free agency, but that doesn’t preclude them from operating at the margins.

After signing center fielder Jung Hoo Lee for $113 million over six years, the Giants added another outfielder — although on a much smaller scale. Tuesday morning, the team announced they traded cash and a player to be named later for TJ Hopkins, who played 25 games for the Reds last year.

Hopkins, 26, struggled with the Reds in his first MLB action, going 7-for-41. His minor league results are much more promising; the righty slashed .308/.411/.514 in Triple-A last year.

The Reds selected Hopkins in the ninth round of the 2019 MLB Draft after he spent four years at the University of South Carolina.

Hopkins hasn’t fit the plate discipline profile of a typical Giants position player, as he strikes out significantly more than he walks. He does have power, though, smacking 16 home runs at Triple-A in 2023.

The Reds designated Hopkins for assignment last week, so the Giants needed to trade for him in order to skip the waiver line.

He’ll join the Giants’ outfield mix on the 40-man roster that is getting crowded. Lee, Michael Conforto, Mike Yastrzemski, Mitch Haniger and Austin Slater are expected to contribute, with younger players like Heliot Ramos, Wade Meckler, Blake Sabol, Tyler Fitzgerald and Brett Wisely also in the organization.

The Giants also claimed reliever Devin Sweet off waivers from the Athletics this week, making their 40-man roster full. Sweet appeared in five games for Oakland and two for the Mariners last year.