Ex-Giant, Who Was In San Francisco For 8 Years, Sent to New York Yankees

On Wednesday July 30, 2025, Jeff Passan reported the Chicago White Sox traded former longtime San Francisco Giants OF Austin Slater to the New York Yankees. 

In exchange, the Yankees are sending minor league right handed pitcher Gage Ziehl to Chicago. 

Ziehl was a fourth round draft pick by the Yankees out of the University of Miami in 2024. In his first season of affiliate ball, he has a 5-4 record with a 4.15 ERA in 15 starts and has risen through the Yankees system all the way to AA. 

Slater, 32, gives the Yankees another outfield option in their rotation with Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, Trent Grisham and Jasson Dominguez. Slater has historically been known to hit left handed pitching exceptionally well. 

He is also good insurance should the Yankees have any injuries in the outfielder or need a pinch hitter against a tough left hander late in playoff games. 

Slater’s Tenure With the Giants 

With the exception of the 2021 season, the Giants have been in limbo since their National League Division Series loss to the Chicago Cubs in 2016. 

They have never quite rebuilt. They always flirt with the playoffs early in the season but don’t make it. 

So Giants fans since 2017, especially in the Farhan Zaidi era, have seen a lot of solid players come and go on short contracts but haven’t had a lot of long tenured players to root for, cling to, and get through the days of mediocrity. 

Austin Slater was one of the few that stuck around for awhile. 

From 2017-2024, a whopping eight seasons, Slater was a San Francisco Giant. 

He was never a superstar. In those eight seasons (593 games), he had a ,254 batting average with 39 home runs and 162 RBI total. 

But he stuck it out through some tough years in San Francisco and gave the Giants solid production. 

His best season was actually in the aforementioned 2021 season when the Giants returned to the playoffs for the first time since 2016. Slater played in 129 games that year and slugged 12 home runs with 32 RBI and 15 stolen bases. He was a key part of a team that won 107 games. 

His production took a big hit before the Giants ultimately moved on from him in 2024, but he’s undoubtedly still beloved by many Giants fans who are excited for his newest opportunity competing for a historic franchise. 

Giants Current Longest Tenured Player In A Similar Spot? 

After the Giants parted ways with Slater in 2024, their new longest tenured Giant became OF Mike Yastrzemski, who debuted with the Giants in 2019. 

Yastrzemski has been a very good corner outfielder in his seven seasons with the Giants. He’s always durable, available, and good for 15-25 home runs a season at the plate. 

Similarly to Slater, he’s provided continuity and someone to root for in the face of such uncertain years in San Francisco.

But if there’s ever been a time that Yastrzemski’s future with the Giants is uncertain, it’s now. 

The Giants are in heavy pursuit of lineup upgrades amidst a stretch where they have lost 10 of their last 12 games and have fallen to a .500 record after starting the season firmly in the NL West divisional race. 

That regression has been largely due to an offense that just can’t consistently hit and support the stellar pitching of Robbie Ray, Logan Webb, Landen Roupp and the Giants bullpen. 

Yastrzemski is solid offensively and defensively, but he is still a streaky, .230 hitter. If the Giants can get a better hitter in the outfield, that may, sadly, be the end of Mike Yastrzemski in San Francisco. 

Giants fans, are you excited for Austin Slater’s new opportunity? Do you want to see the Giants move on from Mike Yastrzemski? 

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