Giants sign Ryan Hanigan to minor-league deal

The Giants have signed veteran catcher Ryan Hanigan to a minor-league deal, as Jon Heyman of FRS Baseball first reported Sunday.

Hanigan, 37, has posted a solid .251/.344/.334 slash line with 30 homers over 11 major-league seasons, though he’s more well-known for his defensive skills. He hit .267/.324/.347 with two homers over 112 plate appearances for the Rockies last season. Hanigan attended spring training with the Indians earlier this year but was released before the end of camp, as Cleveland didn’t have anywhere to put him with Yan Gomes and Roberto Perez forming their catching tandem at the major-league level and prospects Francisco Mejia and Eric Haase needing frequent playing time at Triple-A. It likely didn’t help that Hanigan posted a miserable .154/.214/.154 slash line over 14 Cactus League plate appearances.

The Giants have one of the majors’ best catching tandems with Buster Posey and Nick Hundley, and it’s quite possible that they also had the best catching tandem in Triple-A heading into the season with big-league veterans Hector Sanchez and Trevor Brown. However, Brown is believed to be dealing with concussion symptoms and hasn’t played since April 15, while Sanchez joined him on the DL earlier this week and is dealing with a concussion according to The Mercury News’ Kerry Crowley. With Sanchez and Brown unavailable, the catching duties at Triple-A have been split between career minor-leaguers Jeff Arnold and Ronnie Freeman, but clearly the Giants want to have some more established depth there in case Posey or Hundley goes down before Brown and/or Sanchez returns.