Giants Re-Sign Veteran Catcher Eric Haase, Add Depth to Triple-A Sacramento

The Giants wasted little time bringing Eric Haase back into the fold. San Francisco re-signed the 33-year-old catcher to a minor-league deal on April 1, returning him to Sacramento's roster within days of his spring training release, and Haase was back behind the plate for the River Cats before the ink had dried on the agreement.

The move closes a brief organizational gap that opened when the Giants broke camp with Rule 5 pick Daniel Susac as the backup catcher behind starter Patrick Bailey. Haase had made a genuine case to stick: he hit .286 with a couple of home runs during spring camp, though he struck out 14 times across 32 plate appearances. Giants manager Tony Vitello, who emphasized defense as the defining criterion for the backup role, ultimately sided with Susac. Prospect Jesús Rodríguez was optioned to Sacramento rather than released, and Haase was cut loose.

Now all three are, in effect, downstream from Bailey in the same organizational chain.

Sacramento's catching depth is suddenly substantial. Haase joins Rodríguez and Logan Porter on a River Cats roster that has already shown an appetite for drama; Porter and Rodríguez combined to deliver back-to-back walkoff wins during Sacramento's opening weekend. Thomas Gavallo and Adrián Sugastey add further depth to what is now a catching room with more veterans than guaranteed starts.

What Haase provides that no one else in that group can match is mileage. Across parts of five major-league seasons with Cleveland, Detroit, and Milwaukee, he accumulated nearly 400 games, more than 1,200 plate appearances, and 48 career home runs with a .228/.278/.396 slash line. That right-handed pop and the pitch-framing experience that comes with years of working big-league staffs make him the Giants' most accessible emergency option at the position.

The call-up triggers are well-defined. A Bailey injury is the most obvious; Susac landing on the injured list in his first Rule 5 season is another. But pinch-hit scenarios and workload management during a 162-game schedule create opportunities that don't require a roster emergency, and Haase's ability to function as a day-to-day starter in Triple-A while remaining callable within hours is precisely the arrangement the Giants are banking on.

If his bat stays warm in Sacramento, a contract selection could come before summer. If it doesn't, the Giants still have a 48-home-run veteran steadying a young pitching staff and mentoring a catching group that has yet to log a full Triple-A season.