The San Francisco Giants have made a roster move during the All-Star break, outrighting right-hander Eric Cerantola to Triple-A Sacramento after passing him through waivers, according to The San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser.
The Giants claimed Cerantola, 26, off waivers from the Kansas City Royals early last week. San Francisco put him back through waivers after claiming him, and this time he went unclaimed, allowing the Giants to outright the right-hander to Triple-A. Since Cerantola has never been outrighted and has less than three years of service time, he cannot elect free agency.
San Francisco Giants Make Roster Move on Former Royals Player Eric Cerantola
GettyKANSAS CITY, MISSOURI – MAY 06: Eric Cerantola #61 of the Kansas City Royals throws a pitch in his Major League debut against the Cleveland Guardians in the ninth inning at Kauffman Stadium on May 06, 2026 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images)
The Royals drafted Cerantola in the fifth round (No. 139 overall) of the 2021 MLB Draft out of Mississippi State. He was born in Montreal, Québec, Canada.
Cerantola made his MLB debut with Kansas City this year. He made four appearances, allowing six earned runs on four hits and 10 walks over 5 1/3 innings.
Kansas City designated Cerantola for assignment on July 2, one day after optioning him to Triple-A.
Cerantola has made two appearances with Triple-A Sacramento since being claimed by the Giants last week. He threw a scoreless inning with one strikeout in his first outing, then walked five of the six batters he faced in his second. As Darragh McDonald of MLB Trade Rumors pointed out, his rough second outing could’ve sparked the Giants’ decision to pass him through waivers, and may be why no other teams were interested in claiming him.
There are reasons to believe Cerantola can be an effective big-league reliever despite going through waivers twice already this month.
Can Giants’ Eric Cerantola Return to the Majors?
FanGraphs had Cerantola ranked as the Royals’ No. 28 prospect back in April, and the right-hander is known to have a plus slider, which helped him strike out batters at a 30.7% rate over 93 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level in the Royals organization. He also posted a strong 3.56 ERA during his time with Triple-A Omaha.
However, he posted a concerningly high 11.7% walk rate during his time with the Royals’ Triple-A team. His last Triple-A appearance, along with his 10 walks in just 5 1/3 innings at the big-league level, proves he has a major control issue.
Not to mention, the Royals arguably have the worst bullpen in baseball with the worst ERA in the majors (5.33), yet they decided it wasn’t even worth having Cerantola on their 26-man roster.
Cerantola is still young and could return to the majors if he can hone in on improving his control. He has proved he can strike batters out at a high rate and has been relatively successful in the minors. Being outrighted off the Giants’ roster may be a step back for the young right-hander, but it doesn’t mean his dreams of being on a big-league roster again are over.
San Francisco Giants Make Roster Move on Former Royals Player During All-Star Break