Giants release former Rockies top prospect amidst trio of cuts

The Giants claimed Welker off waivers from the Rockies last summer and immediately placed him on the 60-day injured list after he underwent season-ending shoulder surgery before he played a game in the organization. Welker has struggled to stay healthy throughout his career but has been productive throughout the minors.

Across 416 minor league games, Welker has slashed .303/.367/.454 with 42 homers, 250 runs batted in, 156 walks, and 315 strikeouts. He received a cup of coffee with the Rockies in September 2021 and was 7-for-37 with a double, three walks, and 11 strikeouts.

Welker, 25, wasn’t fairing well against Pacific Coast League pitching upon his release. In 170 plate appearances with Triple-A Sacramento, he racked up just a .662 OPS without any homers. Primarily a third baseman during his career, the Giants utilized him more as a designated hitter and first baseman.

San Francisco signed Sanders on May 24 to provide some right-handed relief depth within the organization, but the former University of South Florida product ran into massive issues when it came to yielding homers in the hitter-friendly PCL. In 14 ⅓ innings of work, he allowed 14 earned runs, five homers, and seven walks while striking out 12 –– the latter statistic is a decent sized drop off of his minor league average of 10.7 K/9.

Sanders, 28, was a 10th-round selection by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2017 MLB Draft and displayed flashes of becoming a viable big-league bullpen piece. The Rays called him up in April 2022 and the righty appeared in eight games and fired 14 ⅓ innings with three walks allowed and 12 strikeouts. He allowed five earned runs. After being designated for assignment by Tampa Bay in August, the Baltimore Orioles claimed him and kept him in the organization until he was released on May 19.

Emery was originally signed by the Giants as an undrafted free agent on June 24, 2020 from the University of San Francisco. The Bay Area native was mostly a backup catcher for the organization and slashed .252/.362/.382 in 469 plate appearances across three minor league seasons. Between Triple-A and Double-A, Emery notched a .565 OPS in 31 games.

On Sunday, the Seattle Mariners announced they signed Emery to a minor league deal and the 26-year-old was assigned to the club’s Arizona Complex League.