The SF Giants released Bay Area native, Arizona State product, and longtime infielder prospect Carter Aldrete earlier this week.
Carter Aldrete is an infield prospect that the San Francisco Giants released earlier this week, according to his MiLB.com profile page. Aldrete had been with the Giants organization his whole professional career. Rainiel Duran, a Dominican Republic-born teenage pitcher, was signed, which most likely precipitated the move. Aldrete appears to have been the odd man out when it comes to MLB’s new cap on the amount of minor league players each organization can have at any given time.
Aldrete was selected by the Giants from Arizona State in the fifteenth round of the 2019 draft. The native of Monterey, California, is well-connected to the organization. The Giants selected both his father and uncle in the minor league draft, and both played for a while in the affiliates. Mike Aldrete, his uncle, spent three seasons in the major leagues with the Giants in 1986. He would go on to play in Major League Baseball for ten years, during which he served as an Oakland Athletics coach for many years.
Coming off his light breakout season, Aldrete’s offensive potential mixed with his defensive versatility lead him to rank as the 36th-best prospect in the Giants system coming into the 2023 season. Aldrete was a right-handed hitter with the makings of a reliable bench bat.
Still, Aldrete had the worst season of his professional career, repeating Double-A. Aldrete only achieved a.223/.282/.384 line with 13 home runs, 31 walks, and 108 strikeouts in 409 plate appearances. Aldrete was only used at the infield and outfield corners by the Giants, who appeared uneasy about his defensive abilities to stay in the middle of the infield.
Carter Aldrete is still only entering his 26th season and should be able to assist a minor league team in a number of ways, even in light of the SF Giants’ decision. The Bay Area native, who is currently a free agent, will try to sign with a different team and go through the minor league system in order to eventually play in the main leagues.