Giants claim Brett Harris off waivers from Red Sox

Harris heads to the Bay Area prior to Tuesday’s game against the Cardinals after being claimed off waivers from the Red Sox last week. The 28-year-old infielder has gone hitless in six at-bats over six games between the Red Sox and Athletics this season.

The Red Sox needed a 40-man roster spot for Jedixson Paez to start on Tuesday, so Harris was let go. The 28-year-old was hitting .293/.405/.459 with eight home runs and five steals in 71 Triple-A games for the Red Sox and Athletics this season.

Harris went 0-for-2 in his lone game with the Red Sox after being acquired from the Athletics in a trade earlier this week. His departure opens a roster spot for Eduardo Rivera to start Saturday’s game in place of an injured Ranger Suarez. He should return in a bench role later this month.

Harris will start at first base against the White Sox on Thursday after Willson Contreras fouled a ball off of his foot on Wednesday and had to leave the game. There is no word yet on whether or not Contreras will need to go on the injured list, but, for one day at least, Harris will take his place at first base.

The trade was made official earlier on Wednesday. Harris is merely emergency infield depth for the injury-plagued Red Sox after being waived by the Athletics last weekend. The 28-year-old has hit .194/.307/.289 across 213 major-league plate appearances since debuting in 2024. He’ll head to Triple-A Worcester for now.

We thought the 28-year-old Harris would likely clear waivers, but he never even got there, as a Red Sox team dealing with a few infield injuries thought it was worth picking him up. The 28-year-old Harris has hit .194/.307/.289 in 213 plate appearances since debuting for the A’s in 2024. He has options left, so the Red Sox could stash him in Triple-A. If the Red Sox were to activate him immediately, it could be at Andrew Monasterio’s expense. The return for the A’s, Hansen, was a 2024 20th-round pick. The 24-year-old has a 4.75 ERA in High-A this year.

The 28-year-old Harris has spent his entire career in the A’s organization since being drafted in the seventh round in 2021 and has hit .194/.307/.289 in 213 major league plate appearances since debuting in 2024. He is at .336/.441/.537 in 37 games for Triple-A Las Vegas this year, but it still seems pretty likely that he’ll clear waivers.

Harris returns to the minors after going 0-for-4 across five games with the Athletics since April 28. He’s merely a reserve infielder at this stage of his development.

Harris returns to the big leagues with third baseman Max Muncy hitting the shelf with a fractured finger. The 27-year-old has gotten into 68 games at the highest level since 2024.

Harris came into camp as part of an “open competition” for the starting third base job, but went 4-for-21 (.190) with six strikeouts. He will now head back to Triple-A, where he slashed .282/.369/.500 with 12 home runs and seven steals in 59 games last season.