San Francisco Giants Trade Deadline: Four Areas to Improve the Roster

The San Francisco Giants are red hot right now, and could probably cement themselves in the “buyer” status. Here are five areas where they should look to improve at the trade deadline.

The San Francisco Giants have plenty of solid pieces in their lineup right now. They don’t have too many serious holes. They’re red hot as of late, and have firmly cemented themselves into contention halfway through the season. They’re currently sitting five games over .500, just 2.5 out of the NL West lead, and tied for second in the division with the Dodgers.

An 8-2 record over their last ten games which included games against NL West opponents, has helped them separate themselves from those who are dwindling. A series win early this week against Colorado will help separate them even more, and can put them right at the top of the division if results fall their way.

With it being two days into the month of July, the Giants now have 29 days to make some moves that can help improve their ball club. As we mentioned before, at the moment, there are no real holes for the Giants, outside of maybe left field. But that doesn’t mean they can’t try to improve the roster. If they chose to stand pat, they could find themselves caught in the dust behind the Dodgers. So what areas should the Giants target?

We’ll lay out five areas of need the Giants need to fill. Some of them can be done internally, and some will have to come from outside the organization. Time to take a look at where the Giants could improve!

The San Francisco Giants starting rotation has been extremely good the last month or so. In June, the Starting Rotation went 10-6 with a 2.93 ERA, 3.80 xFIP, and had the lowest home-run rate at 0.68 HR per 9 innings. Their innings total was the fifth most of any staff in June. They did that mainly with only two good Madison Bumgarner starts, no Johnny Cueto or Jeff Samardzija. That means Derek Holland, Chris Stratton, and Dereck Rodriguez were really, really good.

Of course, Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija are set to return in the recent weeks, and for sure Cueto should have little troubles easing back into a successful place in the rotation. The big question of course, is Jeff Samardzija. I know he hasn’t pitched well at all, and it would suck to get rid of a rookie that they’ve called up, but one of Dereck Rodriguez or Andrew Suarez may just be their new Pierce Johnson, and they could keep Stratton and Holland in the rotation, or whatever combo of those four that they want. That’s the likely scenario. But in case Samardzija can’t go, they have internal options.

However, I am of the belief that if they could land another veteran starter for the real postseason push, then the Giants might be better off. I don’t think the rotation is Priority one. Not in the slightest. However, I thought I’d get my “fringe” thoughts out of the way first. Here are some good trade targets when it comes to a veteran starter, and more along the lines of what I was thinking for that role:

• Kyle Gibson
• Dylan Bundy
• Steven Matz

All are sitting at around the same or better production than Derek Holland, and have a good veteran pedigree with minimal cost.  Again, adding to the rotation is the move if all of the rookies fall flat and then Samardzija re-injures himself, or we’re looking at Cueto having Tommy-John surgery. The move for a starter is much more along the lines of “break glass in case of emergency” than it is going to the supermarket to get a lightbulb for your lamp. Enough metaphors? Ok cool. On to the next “need.”

This is probably the likeliest place they make an upgrade/addition of any sort. Right now, they have Corey Gearrin who has rendered himself virtually useless. He only pitched 5 innings in the month of June, and that should tell you enough, after he posted 9 innings in March/April, and 13+innings in May.

The Giants have already tried to get rid of him once, placing him on trade waivers with no “biters.” That was according to a Ken Rosenthal Report. With how little they’ve used him in recent weeks, it’s safe to say his days with the Giants are numbered.

Ideally, the Giants would replace him with Ray Black. Someone whose track record in the minors speaks for itself. In 133.2 innings in the minor leagues, Black has struck out 254 batters, and walking 87. What’s probably the most impressive of all of them is the fact that he’s only walked 14 of those batters in 30 innings this year. His WHIP across both levels in 2018 is a .815. That’s really good. The questions is if there is another injury coming?

If there is another injury coming, the Giants should look at another bullpen arm via the trade market. It would be smart. After Ray Black, the Giants don’t have much “organizational depth” when it comes to relievers. So the trade market would be ideal. Here are a few options that are on the cheap, but good:

• Jake Diekman, Texas
• Brad Brach, Baltimore
• Tyler Clippard, Toronto

All three are cost-effective options whose contracts expire this year. Brach might be the most intriguing as he could be the cheaper of the Orioles late inning guys. Zack Britton might be healthy in time but can cost a pretty penny, and Brach has done a good job in his place. Diekman is a good reliever and is with the Rangers, who the Giants have dealt with before, including taking on salary.

That is actually the main common denomonator between these three. All three could take on the Giants dead weight salaries for this year, not have it hurt their Luxury Tax scenarios, and both parties would be A-OK. If the Giants needed to shed Austin Jackson, Hunter Pence, or Corey Gearrin for any of these guys, the receiving team might be more likely to take that salary if the Giants give them a slightly better prospect along with.

Those are of course the emergency scenarios. If they decide to oust Corey Gearrin, I’d truly like them to end up doing it because they called up Ray Black, and not added yet another player in front of a promising young arm on the depth chart. But again, if there is another injury to the bullpen, those three should be nice targets for the Giants.

This, in my opinion is the biggest need for the Giants. They could “use” another starter. They could “use” another bullpen piece. But they really need a reliable backup center fielder. Austin Jackson was supposed to be that, and that he is not. Stephen Duggar isn’t ready, because if he was, he’d be here.

The defense is there for Duggar, but something has been amiss as he’s amassed 10 errors this year, giving him 12 total in his minor league career in center. His bat has been good, and he does get on base a lot. But Duggar is not ready for a call-up, and the situation isn’t dire enough to potentially bring him up. So what do you do? Keep riding it out with Austin Jackson? Try and move someone else to play their? The best answer is neither.

They absolutely need to look outside of the organization to fill this hole. As much as I love Duggar, and believe in his ability/prospect status, this year is not it. To throw him into the fire in the middle of a summer pennant race is dumb. The Giants need to go get a veteran for that hole. So who is available? Here are a couple names that I think wouldn’t cost a ton, and could do an admirable job filling in at CF:

• Delino DeShields, Texas
• Leonys Martin, Detroit

Both of these guys are in the top five when it comes to Fangraphs dWAR, and have some of the highest DRS and UZR in the league. The metrics back that they’re good outfielders, and would do well as a fourth or fifth outfielder. They’d be better than what the Giants have with Jackson, and it would be quite smart to try and land either. Both players are on teams at the bottom, looking to rebuild, with low payrolls. They could even take back Austin Jackson. and not be in pain for paying him the next two years.

The Giants have to find a way to make moves while staying under the cap. By swapping players with teams who literally don’t care about this year or the next, they can potentially shed some of the salary they’re trying to move. Guys like Gearrin and Jackson fit that small level salary. But if they want a bigger addition, then they’re going to have to convince Pence to accept a move. Which leads me to the next slide.