Giants designate reliever Trevor Gott for assignment

The Giants have designated reliever Trevor Gott for assignment, per Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group. The move clears space on the 40-man roster for the signing of Aaron Sanchez, whose one-year deal has been made official.

Gott is a bit of a surprising cut after San Francisco signed him to a $700K contract to avoid arbitration last November. Acquired from the Nationals in a minor trade before 2019, Gott looked like a potential long-term bullpen piece after his first season in the Bay Area. He tossed 52.2 innings of 4.44 ERA/3.73 SIERA ball with better than average strikeout (26.6%) and walk (7.9%) rates in 2019. Unfortunately, the wheels fell off last season, with Gott coughing up 13 runs (including a staggering seven homers) over 11.2 innings with eight strikeouts and walks apiece.

The Giants will now have a week to trade Gott, release him or place him on outright waivers. Brutal 2020 notwithstanding, it’s plausible he could attract interest from another club. In addition to his solid performance in 2019, Gott averaged a strong 95.4 mph on his fastball last season. As a player with three-plus years of MLB service, a potential acquiring organization would pick up three seasons of team control via arbitration.

If no other team acquires Gott, he’d be entitled to 30 days’ termination pay (roughly $112K) as a player cut within the first half of spring training. Unlike the vast majority of MLB contracts, most arbitration deals aren’t fully guaranteed until Opening Day.