The story has now made it past the twitter-verse: Maria Guardado reports on the Giants MLB site that Kris Bryant is coming to San Francisco. I posted in the comments on Wednesday's post that the Giants had been linked to Bryant.
The Giants give up Alexander Canario, a 21-year old RH OF at A-level. He's on the 40-man roster so that clears a spot for the FNG. They also give up Caleb Killian, a 24-year old RH starter at AA-level.
Bryant is a rental but he's the best player available that really fills the Giants needs. They get a right-handed power hitter who can play both corner infield and corner outfield spots and has even logged games in center field. His best position is third base and he's a former MVP and RoY not to mention a World Series winner with Chicago. He's 29 years old and has a career .886 OPS in 3626 PA over seven seasons.
It's a great move and should really help the team. I still think they can use another starter, but I'm not complaining. Bryant is a superb ballplayer and I don't see a downside. The Cubs get two excellent prospects but the Giants are finally in a position to trade from their farm system and they took advantage of that. Good job by the F.O.
Go Giants!
--M.C.
p.s. Looks like Tony Watson is returning to the Giants. Sam Selman goes to the Angels for Watson along with two other players, pitchers Ivan Armstrong and Jose Marte. Seems like a lot for an old lefty but I'm not complaining!
7 comments:
I don't know much about the minor leaguers that the Giants sent to the Cubs, but I'm glad they didn't panic and ship out Joey Bart and Webb for Beltran. Oops, I mean Bryant. FZ and Co. do not seem like the kind of folks to panic! I also read that the Giants were talking with Denver about Trevor Story, but he is not really having a good year. Really, he is no better than the players we have, and I'm betting the Rockies just wanted too much. Bryant is really the better player, even though he is a free agent after this year.
I actually hate this. I think the trade deadline should be early, like June 1. I hate that 6 or 7 well-off teams in each league get better and all the fans of 8 or 9 teams get slapped in the face by teams that decide they don't want to win anymore this year. I hate that teams can suddenly become much better because some other team can trade their star(s) just to save payroll. The Giants have to face LA, the recipient of the Nationals' largesse, only 3 more times this year, while the Padres have to face them 9 more times. How fair is that to the Padres to have to face a substantially different team (not that the Pads wouldn't have done the same thing)? I have a friend from DC (Nat's fan) who now lives in Colorado. He has tix for their series in Denver in September and is asking himself if he wants to see two teams that are uninterested (the Nats also gave away Trea Turner at age 28 who is not a free agent next year). Is that good for baseball? Make the deadline June 1 and let teams trade bona-fide minor leaguers for longer, if you like. I also hate all the hype that goes along with it. How long have they been talking about Scherzer? Forever it seems like. I guess that is the modern sports industry/media - in your face all the time whether there is a game or not.
Prospects are just that--prospects. You can never know for sure who will emerge as a genuine major-leaguer down the road. I have a no-looking back/no-regrets policy when it comes to trading prospects. Once they are gone, they are gone, and you have to focus on the now and not the what-ifs. In an ideal world a trade helps both sides!
And, in today's world, these deals get done more "cheaply" than you'd think. Teams can't ask for top-five prospects any more.
The Giants needed to plug the Longoria hole and Bryant does that perfectly. He's a big-bat corner OF and that addresses a team need, too. He can hit in any of the key spots in the lineup. It's the kind of move they needed to make so I'm happy about it.
I've been obsessing over starting pitching but this move tells me that FZ/Harris/Kap are happy with the state of the staff. They have confidence that the depth and talent are there. Right on! I can't complain about that.
Mid-season trades are part of the MLB landscape and have been for a long time. They ought to have a better system, certainly, and I do understand your objections. Teams should not hold fire sales and dump players. (If they got rid of the draft, that would remove the incentive to "tank" a season.)
As far as hype goes, one has to watch sports with the sound muted in order to stay sane! This is why I blog, it is much quieter. I don't watch ESPN or any sports shows and I certainly don't listen to sports radio. Both are toxic to your mental health. If I need to know something, I read it. Like I said, it's quieter!
Problem with the Beltran trade was that we could not sign him. St. Louis signed him and got a good deal and more than their money's worth. Being the giants gave up Wheeler in that deal, it would seem that they may have wanted Beltran for more than just a rental.
I'm not sure if the Giants are even interested in pursuing a free agent Bryant, and if they are, it's a secondary motive. This move is about RIGHT NOW. They need an impact bat for the playoff chase and the fact that he plays multiple spots means the roster crunch won't hurt.
Here's from a Patrick Mooney story on The Athletic:
If he gets traded, Kris Bryant will be open to the idea of returning to the Cubs as a free agent this winter, a double-dip that would allow the big-market franchise to replenish the farm system and ultimately retain a homegrown MVP as it tries to build the next great team on Chicago’s North Side.
“Oh yeah, absolutely,” Bryant said Tuesday at Wrigley Field. “Like I’ve said, I love this place. It’s all I’ve known. The familiarity of being here and this city and the people make it a lot easier to say, ‘Yeah, of course, I’d love to play here.’”
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