How the San Francisco Giants Find the Next Derek Holland

Moving on to our next level of thrift shopping, we have our straight-up, non-bougie consignment store. These are your Buffalo Exchange or Crossroads-type stores where everyday people bring in their used clothes that may or may not be in style, and then some teenage clerk with a septum piercing and no regards for your feelings tells you most of your stuff isn’t that great, and offers you pennies on the dollar for the couple things they might be able to resell.

While you’re waiting around for the clerk to break your heart, you go ahead and browse the racks to see what’s out there. Then you see it, you see the player that answers the question, “What if Gorkys Hernandez hit like he did in the beginning of 2018 all the time?” That’s right. You’ve stumbled upon Derek Dietrich.

Dietrich couldn’t find his way into the boutique stores becauase although he is versatile, he’s not a Swiss army knife like Solarte, and he’s a little older than Flores. But one thing Dietrich has been for a majority of his career is a solid ballplayer. He’s had an OPS+ over 100 most of his career, he can play infield and outfield, and he is a low key on-base machine at a .335 clip over his career. If that’s not enough Dietrich is also a career .283 hitter against National League opponents that aren’t the Giants. He may not be the sexiest thing on the racks, but he’s a functional piece that you wouldn’t be ashamed to add to your repetoire. He’s like a hoodie, but for your baseball team.

If that’s not your thing and you’re looking for a pitcher that could provide some rotational depth or might be ready to embark on his second career as a lefthanded specialist out of the bullpen, you might have just stumbled upon Jaime Garcia. Left-handed pitchers are a lot like a good pair of jeans. They are always in style because they are a staple of everyone’s wardrobe. If you don’t have a good pair of jeans, you’re probably a narc.

Garcia’s numbers don’t jump off the page, but through the majority of his career, he has been an above average pitcher. He’s posted an ERA+ of 103 over his 10 year career and his FIP is a pretty solid 3.77. It wasn’t long ago that he was such a hot commodity at the trade deadline, that he was traded twice in one week. After a down year in Toronto and entering his age 32 season, he might be fit for a second life as a swingman or match up lefty out of the bullpen.

Teams are always looking for experienced lefties to add to their pitching staff so he may not be the cheapest option, but considering his career 2.62 ERA at AT&T Park, he might be worth the investment.