Giants outfielder Mac Williamson went unclaimed on outright waivers after being designated for assignment and will report to the club’s Triple-A affiliate in Sacramento, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports (via Twitter).

The 28-year-old Williamson was long viewed as a potential regular by the previous Giants front office but has struggled to remain healthy and regularly been blocked at the MLB level by more established veterans (e.g. Hunter Pence, Andrew McCutchen). When healthy, Williamson has generally performed well in Triple-A (.269/.327/.533 last season), and he showed brief flashes of his power potential early in the 2018 season. A concussion last May cost him some playing time, though, and he ultimately landed back in Sacramento for much of the year. Williamson finished out the season with a meager .213/.295/.383 slash through 105 trips to the plate as a big leaguer.

It’s not terribly difficult to envision Williamson earning another look with the Giants down the road this season. Although San Francisco acquired Kevin Pillar from the Blue Jays earlier this week, their starting trio of Pillar, Steven Duggar and Gerardo Parra isn’t exactly an iron-clad collection of established producers. Parra has struggled in recent seasons and had to settle for a minor league pact this winter, while Pillar has generally provided premium defense but an inability to keep his OBP north of .300. Duggar has yet to log a full season in the Majors. Each of the three figures to have a reasonably long leash, but Williamson will at least have the opportunity to force the issue of a return to San Francisco now that he’s remaining in the organization.