The San Francisco Giants signed Dereck Rodriguez as a minor league free agent on Nov. 15, 2017.
Originally drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the sixth round of the 2011 draft, Rodriguez went 10-6 with a 3.27 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 121 strikeouts in 143.1 innings between High-A and Double-A during the 2017 season.
The son of Hall of Fame catcher Ivan Rodriguez, Dereck spent the first three seasons of his professional career as an outfielder before moving to the mound. That explains his slow development and he didn’t play above the rookie ball level until 2015.