San Francisco Giants Re-sign Versatile Reliever to Minor League Deal

The San Francisco Giants have re-signed their former reliever and assigned him to Triple-A Sacramento.

Jun 14, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Spencer Howard (56) delivers a pitch against the Los Angeles Angels during the first inning at Oracle Park. / D. Ross Cameron-USA TODAY Sports

Spencer Howard’s circuitous road these past two seasons led back to San Francisco, as the Giants signed him to a minor-league deal and assigned him to Triple-A Sacramento.

Howard pitched on Friday for the River Cats and threw a scoreless inning.

The 28-year-old right-hander has been a free agent since July 28 when he opted to test the market instead of accepting an assignment to Cleveland’s Triple-A affiliate in Columbus after he cleared waivers.

The Guardians designated him for assignment on July 21. Because he’s a minor-league signing, if the Giants call him up it will require both a 40-man and 26-man roster move.

San Francisco is the fourth different organization Howard has played for since the start of the 2023 season.

The Giants did the San Luis Obispo, Calif., native the same way the Guardians did on June 30 when they designated him for assignment. San Francisco later traded him to Cleveland for cash.

He threw in two games with Cleveland, going 0-1 with a 9.00 ERA in five innings. He struck out six and walked three.

Howard landed in San Francisco last offseason on a minor-league deal but failed to make the Opening-Day roster.

He didn’t put up great numbers with Triple-A Sacramento, as he is now 1-2 with a 5.75 ERA after his Friday appearance. He’s struck out 58 and walked 18 in 40.2 innings, with 10 starts and 11 appearances.

San Francisco called up the former Philadelphia Phillies’ top prospect on May 28 as the Giants were dealing with a myriad of injuries on their pitching staff. By the numbers, Howard put up some of the best of his career.

Primarily a reliever, he went 1-1 with a 3.80 ERA in six appearances and 21.1 innings. He struck out 21 and walked nine.

He made his first start in more than two years in June against one of his former teams, the Texas Rangers. Howard wasn’t involved in the decision but he left with a 3-1 lead. He gave up one run, struck out two and walked three in 4.2 innings. His last Giants appearance against the Chicago Cubs saw him throw 4.2 innings of scoreless relief.

He was a second-round pick of the Phillies and broke into the Majors in 2020. He was traded to Texas in 2021 and the Rangers dealt him to the Yankees last year.

Howard joined the Giants last September after he was released by the New York Yankees. Howard never received a call-up with the Yankees as he spent a month at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.