The Giants have released catcher Donny Sands, as noted in his MLB.com transaction log. Sands, 28, had signed a minor league deal with the Giants in mid-May after being released by the Tigers at the end of spring training.
Sands was originally selected by the Yankees in the eighth round of the 2015 draft, spending seven seasons in their system before being traded to the Phillies ahead of the 2022 season. He made his MLB debut with Philadelphia in September 2022, playing in three games as a pinch-hitter and catching two innings. Sands was then traded to the Tigers during the 2022-23 offseason along with Matt Vierling and Nick Maton in exchange for Gregory Soto and Kody Clemens.
After his release from the Tigers in March, Sands had a brief stint with the Toros de Tijuana of the Mexican League before joining the Giants and returning to affiliated baseball.
The Giants initially needed catching depth when both Patrick Bailey and Tom Murphy were placed on the injured list on the same weekend. In response, they recalled Blake Sabol, selected Jakson Reetz to replace Murphy and signed veteran Curt Casali to replace Reetz. Sands was later signed for additional minor-league depth. However, with Bailey’s return and Sabol back at Triple-A, the Sacramento River Cats had limited playing time available for their catchers, leading to Sands being the odd man out. His performance—going 9-for-51 (.176) with one extra-base hit and 16 strikeouts over 13 games for Sacramento—did not help his case.
Sands is now free to seek a new team in need of catching depth.
