The San Francisco Giants are almost certainly going to add a position player via trade in the next four days. Despite looking awful against their division rivals in an ego-crushing series at home, they parted with two fairly decent prospects to add Jake Peavy for the rest of this season.
They’re going for it, and no one in the Giants clubhouse is complaining.
“It’s normal at this time to hear the rumors. But you’d rather be on the receiving end, believe me, in the clubhouse. Because they do wonder,” Bruce Bochy said before Monday’s game against the Pirates.
“It’s a distraction, as much as you tell ’em, ‘Don’t worry about things you can’t control. We’ve got a job to do.’ The players probably have a sense of comfort knowing that they’re going to be here. This is our group. If anything, we’re going to add. We’re not going to subtract.”
Granted, guys like Dan Uggla, Tony Abreu, Joe Panik, Adam Duvall and Tyler Colvin probably wouldn’t mind standing pat. But it’s a different dynamic than last year, when Tim Lincecum, Javier Lopez and Hunter Pence were all sweating the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline.
The “buyers” label must be earned, and the Giants — flawed and rickety as they may be — have earned a chance to raise the quality of their big league roster before the so-called “dog days.” Just for fun, here’s a look at some position players who’ve been linked to the Giants by various media outlets. A relevant rumor is linked to each player’s name.
Chris Denorfia – Padres
Age: 34
Position: LF/CF/RF
Becomes a free agent in: 2015
2014 stats: .244/.295/.321, 0.2 WAR
2014 prorated salary (est.): $750K
Alex Rios – Rangers
Age: 33
Position: RF (LF if the Giants acquired him)
Becomes a free agent in: 2015 ($13.5M team option or a $1M buyout)
2014 stats: .299/.328/.426, 0.5 WAR
2014 prorated salary (est.): $4.2M
Emilio Bonifacio – Cubs
Age: 29
Position: CF/2B
Becomes a free agent in: 2015
2014 stats: .268/.310/.347, 0.9 WAR
2014 prorated salary (est.): $850K
Ben Zobrist – Rays
Age: 33
Position: 2B/SS/LF/RF
Becomes a free agent in: 2015 ($7.5M team option, $500K buyout)
2014 stats: .268/.358/.409, 2.7 WAR
2014 prorated salary (est.): $2.3M
Asdrubal Cabrera – Indians
Age: 28
Position: SS/2B
Becomes a free agent in: 2015
2014 stats: .249/.309/.392, 1.2 WAR
2014 prorated salary (est.): $3.4M
Mike Aviles – Indians
Age: 33
Position: 3B/2B/LF
Becomes a free agent in: 2015 ($3.5M team option, $250K buyout)
2014 stats: .260/.285/.341, 0.4 WAR
2014 prorated salary (est.): $1.2M
Marlon Byrd – Phillies
Age: 36
Position: RF (LF if the Giants acquired him)
Becomes a free agent in: 2017 ($8M in 2015, $8M vesting option for 2016)
2014 stats: .260/.285/.341, 0.4 WAR
2014 prorated salary (est.): $2.7M
Jimmy Rollins – Phillies
Age: 35
Position: SS
Becomes a free agent in: 2016 ($11M in 2015)
2014 stats: .241/.321/.396, 2.5 WAR
2014 prorated salary (est.): $3.7M
Chase Utley – Phillies
Age: 35
Position: 2B
Becomes a free agent in: 2016 at the earliest, but could make $60M over next four years if healthy
2014 stats: .291/.354/.433, 3.3 WAR
2014 prorated salary (est.): $5M
Notes: As Grant Brisbee of McCovey Chronicles noted, Rios makes little to no sense for the Giants and Denorfia is a solid buy-low candidate (and, LOL Padres); The Rays and Indians might not be sellers — both teams are within five games of the second American League wild card and the Rays have won 21 of their last 27 games; Utley doesn’t want to leave Philadelphia, and the Giants don’t want that contract; Rollins isn’t quite as unlikely as Utley, but it’s close; Ken Rosenthal mentioned the Giants’ potential interest in two White Sox infielders (Alexei Ramirez and Gordon Beckham) at the beginning of June, but this list was getting long.
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Which Giants are on the no-trade list?
With the big league club shopping, the comfort level in the Giants’ minor league clubhouses isn’t quite as high — especially for the pitchers.
The Rays have interest in Andrew Susac, but the Giants probably can’t deal him now after what happened to Hector Sanchez. Considering how badly Sanchez was beat up before getting knocked out of action, the position he plays, and what Bochy said about him today, the Giants probably can’t count on him coming back anytime soon.
“Hector, he’s a ways away. He didn’t quite do as well (as Brandon Belt) in the (concussion) test. He’s still a few days away from where Belt is right now,” Bochy said.
“With the risk involved in the foul tips, it does take a little bit longer (to return to action). We certainly will look at it that way before we put him back behind the plate. Maybe give him a few extra days. If they get another foul tip, he just came off one, so he’s more apt to get another concussion.”
Brian Sabean said the Giants have gotten calls from other teams about 15 different pitching prospects. That could’ve been more of an estimation than an exact number, and they parted with two of them on Saturday. So let’s say there’s a dozen or so pitchers the Giants could part with in return for a player who’d 1) add depth and 2) hopefully lengthen a lineup that’s looked awfully short for almost two months now.
What about Bochy’s son, Brett, who has a 3.32 in 40.2 innings with Fresno?
“I don’t think he made that list,” Bochy said with a smile. “I just talked to him today. He asked me the same thing.”
