San Francisco Giants: Potentially considering trade with Atlanta Braves

With reports of the San Francisco Giants heightening their interest in primetime free agents, reports now indicate that a trade with the Atlanta Braves may also be an option.

According to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, the Braves are shopping all three of their outfielders in Nick Swisher, Cameron Maybin, and Michael Bourn.

After trading for both the tandem just a few months ago in August, Swisher slashed just .195/.349/.339 with four home runs and 17 RBIs in 46 games with Atlanta, while Bourn struggled as well slashing .221/.303/.257 with 10 runs and four stolen bases. Both Swisher and Bourn are veteran guys who are running out of time to be on a contending team.

While Alex Pavlovic of CSN Bay Area speculates that the Giants may be interested in one of the trio of Braves outfielders, at this time Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle has found that Atlanta is in fact discussing a trade with an NL West team, but it is not San Francisco.

The Braves were rumored to have been shopping Maybin during this year’s trade deadline, but, of course, nothing went through. The 9-year veteran has seen the trade process before, as he was just traded to Atlanta from San Diego just days before Opening Day. The former 1st round pick was quite the surprise this year after many critics officially labeled him as a bust. In 141 games, Maybin patrolled center field and set career highs in batting average (.267), home runs (10), and RBIs (59).

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Atlanta is in the process of building a brand new stadium in SunTrust Park that is expected to be completed for the 2017 season. As most organizations do, the Braves are expected to unload some of their veterans and attempt to rebuild into a playoff caliber team for 2017.

Nonetheless, Maybin is still just 28-years-old and it may be safe to say that Atlanta is unsure whether he is their center fielder for the future. As for Bourne and Swisher, they are both in their mid-30s and have seen their production drastically decline since 2013. Within the past three seasons, both Swish and Bourn set career lows in WAR.

With that being said, Swisher is similar to Jonny Gomes in that he is a great clubhouse guy who adds to the camaraderie and culture of a team. Often regarded as the best teammate on the club, Swish could be great in a pinch hitting, bench player role on a contending team.

Similar to Swisher, Bourn can be a role player on a team in search for bench depth. Although he won’t be able to swipe 50 bags like he used to in his prime, Bourn has rarely spent any of his career on the DL and is a two-time Gold Glove award winning center fielder. When given the right role, Bourn could be an ideal fourth outfielder.

Sep 6, 2015; Washington, DC, USA; Atlanta Braves left fielder Nick Swisher (23) in the dugout before the game between the Washington Nationals and the Atlanta Braves at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

While both Swisher and Bourn have overpaid contracts (4 year/$56 million through 2016 for Swisher; 4 year/$48 million through 2016 for Bourn), Atlanta has said that they plan on eating up a lot of the $15 million owed to each of them in 2016.

For a team like San Francisco who is searching the free agent market for both bench depth and role players, Swisher and Bourn might end up being a cheaper and better fit. Both have great personalities that the fans will love, and both would fit in with the unique chemistry that thrives in the Giants clubhouse.

Depending on the price, Swisher and Bourn may be heading out West.

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