Giants trade rumors: Could San Francisco target David Price, Yoenis Cespedes or Rajai Davis of the Tigers?
Jul 11, 2015; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Detroit Tigers center fielder Rajai Davis (20) gets ready for the game against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. The Twins win 9-5. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports
Rajai Davis
At last, we come to the most likely, albeit the least buzzworthy, of the bunch in speedster Rajai Davis—a man all pre-bandwagon Giants fans should remember well.
In a part-time role in 2007, Davis electrified San Francisco with his theft on the base paths, swiping 17 bags in 21 tries while hitting a respectable .282. He didn’t stick in 2008, but was picked up off waivers by the A’s and has carved out an impressive career for himself since.
With the ability to play all three outfield positions—namely center—and no qualms coming off the bench as he’s currently doing in Detroit, a Bay Area return could be in the cards for Davis. The speedster was nothing but class when he donned the orange and black, and has made it know that he isn’t opposed to a midseason move.
The hold-up (there’s always one, isn’t there?) is that Rajai is essentially a right-handed Gregor Blanco with better wheels and worse defense. If the Giants brought him back, I highly doubt they would do so just to use him as a fifth outfielder/pinch-runner extraordinaire. Rather, they would platoon him with Blanco, effectively putting an end to the Angel Pagan era.
Blanco has been better than Pagan this year by almost every statistical measure, and pairing him with Davis—who’s much better against left-handed pitching—would be an odd way of getting Pagan-in-his-prime production.
Though plenty of viable outfield options are on the market, Rajai’s versatility puts him on my shortlist of insurance adds for San Francisco.