This story was excerpted from Maria Guardado's Giants Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
The Giants don’t have to look too far back to find their most recent Rule 5 Draft success story.
In December 2022, San Francisco worked out a trade for Rule 5 pick Blake Sabol and gave him a chance to compete for a spot as a backup catcher/outfielder. Sabol not only cracked the Giants’ Opening Day roster, he beat the odds by managing to stay in the big leagues for the entire '23 campaign.
Now, the Giants are hoping another Rule 5 catcher -- Daniel Susac -- will be able to do the same.
Originally taken by the Twins in last week’s Rule 5 Draft, Susac was immediately flipped to the Giants, who sent 17-year-old catching prospect Miguel Caraballo and cash considerations to Minnesota to complete the trade.
Susac, the younger brother of former Giants backstop Andrew Susac, was a first-round Draft pick of the A’s in 2022, and he hit .275 with an .832 OPS and 18 home runs over 97 games with Triple-A Las Vegas in '25. The Rosewood, Calif., native was stuck behind Shea Langeliers and Austin Wynns on the A’s catching depth chart, which was one of the reasons he wasn’t added to the 40-man roster and protected from the Rule 5 Draft this year.
The Giants had a clear need for more catching depth after non-tendering Andrew Knizner last month. They quickly identified the 24-year-old Susac as someone who could plug a hole on their roster.
“Plus defender behind the plate, power,” general manager Zack Minasian said of Susac, who is now ranked as the Giants' No. 15 prospect by MLB Pipeline. “History with him back to high school through the Draft. Bay Area ties. It’s a position of need. We're always looking to build depth. Still young, still upside. So a lot of positives, a lot of boxes checked. We’re excited to give him this opportunity.”
While Susac was acquired via trade, he’ll still be subject to the usual Rule 5 stipulations, which means the Giants will have to keep him on their 26-man roster for the entire 2026 season or offer him back to the A’s. That should make the right-handed-hitting Susac the clear frontrunner to serve as Patrick Bailey’s backup next year.
“I think he's a candidate,” Minasian said. “Obviously he's going to have to come in and earn it, but obviously to take him shows what we think of him. We definitely see him as a really strong candidate. We’re excited about where our catching depth is with him.”
Another young prospect, Jesus Rodriguez (No. 16), is also likely to factor into the Giants' catching mix in 2026, but he’s still fairly green behind the plate and hasn’t caught a ton in the upper levels of the Minors. Susac’s arrival should allow the Giants to be more patient with the 23-year-old Rodriguez and enable him to get more reps at Triple-A Sacramento if necessary.
“We’re very excited about Jesus Rodriguez but also understand that the amount of games that he’s caught is somewhat limited,” president of baseball operations Buster Posey said. “But we’re really excited about his future. I think what excites me is when I hear our manager or a coach on the staff in Triple-A just talk about his makeup and how well he’s worked with the pitchers and his desire to get better defensively.”