San Francisco Giants: Five Outfielders They Should Trade For

Kevin Pillar

The Toronto Blue jays are somewhat questionably trying to contend, not unlike the Giants are. So maybe there’s a way both teams can help each other.

Despite having several aging, expensive veterans on the roster (sound familiar), they have a little bit of payroll space that they perhaps want to use to add another, Lorenzo Cain.

Simply put, the team is seeking an offensive upgrade, and they may be willing to part with defensive wiz center fielder Kevin Pillar to do so. While he would require a second-tier prospect package or perhaps a Hunter Strickland-type reliever in exchange, that price is well worth what Pillar would bring to the Giants.

The outfielder is entering his first season of arbitration eligibility and has a .292/.332/.439 career slash line against left-handed pitching, with last year being his best against lefties. He also would bring decent speed to a pretty slow team, as he has stolen at least 14 bases each of the past three seasons.

Over those past three seasons, Pillar has also posted an 11.4 WAR (that’s more than Mark Melancon‘s career WAR!). Former Giants center fielder Denard Span over the same period: a 0.7 WAR.

Then, when you consider the Blue Jay will be entering his age 29 season and is projected to cost just $4MM next season, he becomes an even better fit for the Giants.

He would become a free agent at 31, so ideally Giants fans would thankfully not need to suffer through an age-related decline that we have become accustomed to.

Controllability, defense, and an ability to hit lefties should put Pillar near the top of Bobby Evans’ CF wish list.