Miami Marlins Season in Review: Johnny Giavotella

Throughout the 2018/2019 offseason, Marlin Maniac will devote one article each for every player who appeared in the Miami Marlins system for the 2018 season. Every. Single. Player. This is Part 71 of 286. Stay tuned.

Johnny Arthur Giavotella was (is) a 5’8″, 185 lb. second baseman from Metairie, Louisiana. Born on July 10th, 1987, he was chosen in the second round of the 2008 MLB Amateur Draft, with the 49th overall pick by the Kansas City Royals. 23-of-54 players chosen 49th overall have made it to the majors, led by Carlos Beltran (1995, Royals, 69.8 career WAR), Carney Lansford (1975, California Angels, 40.4 WAR), and Jeff Suppan (1993, Boston Red Sox, 17.1 WAR). You can follow Giavotella on Twitter @GiavotelLA504

Before his selection, Giavotella spent three seasons playing college ball for the University of New Orleans Privateers, hitting .363/.469/.601 in 182 games, with 32 home runs and 172 RBI. After the draft, he signed with the Royals for $787,000 and reported to the Burlington Bees in the single-A Midwest League.

Giavotella worked his way up through the Royals system for the next few seasons, with stops for the Wilmington Blue Rocks, the Northwest Arkansas Travelers, and the Omaha Storm Chasers. In 2011, he made his major league debut with the Royals.

In four seasons playing for Kansas City, Giavotella slashed a .238/.277/.334 line in 125 contests, with four home runs and 45 RBI. In each of those campaigns, he spent well over half of his playing time at the triple-A level with the Storm Chasers in the Pacific Coast League. In December of 2014, the Royals traded Giavotella to the Los Angeles Angels for Brian Broderick.

Giavotella spent the entire 2015 season with the Angels, getting the most playing time of his career. He appeared in 129 games, more than he had in four years for the Royals, and slashed .272/.318/.375 with four homers and 49 RBI as the Angels regular second baseman. He played another season in L.A., slashing .260/.286/376 in 99 games, with six homers and 31 RBI in 2016. He left via free agency following the season, and signed with the Baltimore Orioles.

Giavotella only played in seven games at the major league level with the Orioles, appearing in 83 contests at the triple-A level with the International League’s Norfolk Tides.

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In December 2018, Giavotella signed a minor-league contract with the Miami Marlins. On April 17th, he came off the disabled list and reported to the New Orleans Baby Cakes, Miami’s triple-A Pacific Coast League team. He appeared in 10 games for the Cakes, hitting six-for-28 with one double, two runs scored, and three RBI. On May 2nd, the Marlins released Giavotella.

10 days later, Giavotella signed with the Chicago White Sox and played in their minor league system for 14 games between the Birmingham Barons and the Charlotte Knights. He was again released on June 22nd, and on August 11th, he retired from professional baseball.

Although Giavotella is officially retired, he’s considered a free agent. It’s unlikely he would consider signing anywhere if offered a contract at this point, just going by the tweet above.

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