15. Daniel Susac C. DOB: 5/142001. B-R, T-R. 6' 4", 218 lbs. 40-man roster, no options(Rule 5 Draftee via trade).
2025(AAA-Athletics): .275/.349/.483, 18 HR, 7 SB, 8.6 BB%, 26.8 K%, 407 PA.
Susac is the younger brother of Forever Giant, Andrew Susac. He was drafted #19 overall by the A's in 2022 and worked his way through their system. They did not add him to their 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft, probably because they have a plethora of young catchers in the organization. He was selected by the Twins who then traded him to the Giants for a very young catching prospect, Miguel Caraballo, plus cash.
Why all that is important is Susac has to stay on the 26-man active roster all season or be offered back to the A's in accordance with Rule 5 rules. It doesn't seem to make a lot of sense to give up even a very young prospect for Susac if there is not a strong intention of keeping him all season. Where the story gets complicated is the Giants also singed veteran catcher, Eric Haase, to a minor league contract with a MLB salary contingent on him making the active roster out of spring training. He has an opt out so the Giants are not going to be able to keep both. Haase has a reputation as a poor defensive catcher and has battled some injuries so this all has an eery Tom Murphy vibe to it.
With a full AAA season under his belt, Susac should be as ready as he'll ever be and looks like the type of asset the Giants would want to keep in the organization. It's just that back up catcher is an extremely tough gig for him to try to find traction on a MLB career.
"Mine is not to reason why, mine is but to do" whatever they tell me to do...
ReplyDeleteWe would think that the Rule 5 gives Susac the inside track over Haase. I agree that there is a Tom Murphy vibe to Haase and I will not be happy unless he is a depth or insurance piece.
ReplyDeleteWith the effort it took to acquire Daniel Susac, one has to figure that Buster personally scouted Daniel and likely got along well with Andrew. (I seem to recall that Andrew was plagued with wrist and other injuries he just couldn't shake.) That encourages me to think that Daniel will actually make the grade for a full season and, we'll hope, become a longtime catcher for the Giants.
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