Contract of former QU All-American infielder picked up Wednesday by San Francisco Giants

WINNIPEG, Manitoba, Canada — Dayson Croes is finally getting his chance.

The 25-year-old native of Noord, Aruba, a former All-American infielder at Quincy University, learned Wednesday that his contract with the Winnipeg Goldeyes of the American Association has been transferred to the San Francisco Giants.

Joshua Frey-Sam of the Winnipeg Free Press reported that Croes had not reported to Goldeyes’ training camp, which opened on April 26, as he finished his time at a job he secured during the off-season. He was expected to miss the first few weeks of the season before joining the club at the end of the month.

It’s the second time in the last 11 months that Croes received a serious look from a Major League organization. He nearly signed with the Minnesota Twins last June, but issues with his work visa prevented the deal from going through.

“I was kind of anticipating hardly having him much at all this year,” Goldeyes manager Logan Watkins told the Free Press.

Croes was Winnipeg’s leading hitter last season. His .342 batting average was third best in the entire American Association. He was named to the American Association All-Star Game, going 4 for 4.

Croes is the Goldeyes’ 88th player to make the leap to affiliated baseball. Which team he will play for in the Giants’ organization was not made public Wednesday.

“The entire Goldeyes organization would like to congratulate Dayson and thank him for his two seasons in Winnipeg,” general manager Andrew Collier said in a media release. “On and off the field, he’s just an outstanding person, and it’s great to see his hard work and dedication rewarded.”

Croes played for the Netherlands at the World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier12 tournament in November and played for the country in a pair of exhibition games against teams from the Nippon Professional Baseball Organization in Japan in March as a part of Team Netherlands’ prep for next year’s World Baseball Classic.

Croes had 12 hits, three home runs and seven RBIs, batting .706 in three games at the Baseball Champions League Americas tournament earlier in April.

He signed with Winnipeg in 2023 after going undrafted when he completed his career at QU. He won American Association Rookie of the Year after leading the league with 135 hits.

Croes strung together four different stretches of registering one hit in at least 10 consecutive games, including nearly setting a franchise record with a 25-game hitting streak in his rookie year.

Croes had a .388 career batting average during three seasons in Quincy, ranking third all-time in the Hawks’ record books. He had a .436 batting average in 2021, good for fourth in the program’s history in a single season. Croes received All-Great Lakes Valley Conference, All-Region and All-American honors, becoming one of the 16 All-Americans QU baseball has produced. The Hawks’ infielder also earned All-GLVC and All-Region honors in 2022.

Croes is the third Hawk to sign a professional contract to play for a Major League Baseball team in the 2020s. Chase Gockel was selected by the Los Angeles Angels in the ninth round of the 2023 MLB Draft as the 264th overall pick, and Riley Martin was selected by the Chicago Cubs in the sixth round of the 2021 MLB Draft as the 184th overall pick.