The San Francisco Giants made a series of difficult roster cuts on Wednesday, which included designating veteran first baseman LaMonte Wade Jr. for assignment. In his place, former first-round pick Dominic Smith will join the roster, per ESPN.
Wade, 31, spent five years in San Francisco, where he hit .240 with a .746 OPS and logged 52 home runs across 488 games. Just last season, Wade was a perfectly useful cog in the Giants' machine, but his production has plummeted in 2025, with an unsavory .546 OPS and -1.1 WAR leading to his dismissal.
While it's a bit jarring to see Wade kicked to the curb, it's not overly shocking given his output this season. That said, it's worth noting that Wade was a former teammate of Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey, which means San Francisco's head honcho was essentially responsible for canning a friend. That takes a certain amount of guts and a clarity of vision, which not every former player-turned-GM has.
Posey spoke openly about the decision with reporters, expressing optimism that Wade can get his career back on track with a new team.
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Buster Posey discusses decision to DFA 'buddy' LaMonte Wade Jr.
San Francisco sits an impressive five games above .500 in the ultra-competitive NL West. This was a team with fairly muted expectations coming into the season, but Posey and the front office has a license to spend money and add talent. You don't hand checks to guys like Matt Chapman, Willy Adames and Jung Hoo Lee without the intention of winning ballgames.
The offense has been a bit anemic of late, but San Francisco's pitching staff is lights-out right now — one of, if not the very best in baseball, with Logan Webb and Robbie Ray both mounting stealth Cy Young campaigns on the west coast. That alone gives Posey every incentive to take swings like this to improve the offense. If the Giants can start knocking some hits around, this team has real underdog potential in the playoffs.
Dominic Smith, 29, has yet to swing at a big-league pitch this season, but he has been raking for the Yankees' Triple-A affiliate in Scranton. With eight home runs, 28 RBI and a solid .782 OPS through 45 games, Smith feels like a left-handed bat who can wake up the Giants lineup. Moreover, he's a plus defender at first base, so San Francisco should be able to extract some value — at least until further upgrades become available closer to the trade deadline.
We should fully expect Posey to keep tweaking the roster and working phone lines in the month ahead. This is the closest San Francisco has been to contention in a hot minute. While Wade's departure stings — both for him and the fanbase — it's the sort of stone-cold business move good GMs make.