The Giants' bullpen churn hit a new gear this week. San Francisco outrighted right-hander Eric Cerantola, cutting him loose from the 40-man roster and sending him down to Triple-A Sacramento, according to MLBTradeRumors.
Giants Outright Eric Cerantola t.co/O3Ewl6sdMg
What makes this move sting a little is how fast the whole thing turned. San Francisco only claimed Cerantola off waivers from the Royals a little over a week earlier, betting on a hard-throwing arm with a nasty slider that Kansas City had just designated for assignment. He'd been a top-30-ish prospect in that system, someone who could miss bats at a well-above-average clip even while the walks piled up.
That control problem is exactly what sank him in San Francisco's org. Cerantola made just two appearances for Sacramento after the claim. The first was clean, a scoreless inning with a strikeout. The second was a mess, five walks issued to the six batters he faced, plus a wild pitch. That's the kind of outing that turns a 'let's see what we've got' claim into a 'no thanks, back to the wire' decision in a hurry.
Nobody claimed him this time, so he's now outrighted to Sacramento rather than shipped to another org. Since he doesn't have three years of service time, he doesn't have the option to elect free agency either, meaning he stays Giants property in the minors for now, whether he likes it or not.
In the grand scheme, this is a minor domino during trade-deadline season, teams like San Francisco constantly cycle up-and-down bullpen arms looking for the next cheap strikeout arm. But it's a reminder of how thin the margin is for a pitcher who can blow away hitters one night and lose the zone completely the next. For Cerantola, the slider still plays. The command still doesn't. Until that changes, expect more waiver-wire trips like this one.