San Francisco Giants: Building a trade with the Philadelphia Phillies

San Francisco Giants Trade Proposal #2

To Phillies: LHP Will Smith
To Giants: SS Luis Garcia, RHP Francisco Morales, C Rafael Marchan

Everyone knows the Philadelphia Phillies primary focus at the deadline will be pitching. Both their bullpen and starting rotation have struggled with consistency and lack top-end talent.

The Giants have plenty of appealing bullpen arms and after their all-in offseason, the Phillies are a prime candidate to go big-game hunting for closer Will Smith.

Fans around the league might not be aware of just how dominant Smith has been this year. He is 13-for-13 on save opportunities and in 22.2 innings of work, he has posted a 2.38 ERA with 32 strikeouts and only four walks for a pristine 1.99 FIP.

While this has been the best season of Smith’s career thus far, it isn’t that much of an aberration. In fact, he has quietly been one of the best relievers in baseball since 2013.

The demand for Smith is going to be high, and it will likely intensify after Craig Kimbrel signs. We’ve already built a trade to send Smith to the Minnesota Twins in an earlier edition in the series.

The closest recent comparison in a deadline trade for Smith is the Aroldis Chapman to the Chicago Cubs trade in 2016. With that said, the prospect package the Yankees received is likely higher than what the Giants will receive for Smith.

Still, the Giants will be looking to add a pair of prospects that immediately enter their system’s top 10, and another with some upside.

Before the Phillies outfield became depleted by injury, Adam Haseley made a lot of sense. Now he’s probably off the table after being called up to the majors.

Since the Phillies are in a win-now mode, they’re going to prefer moving the pieces further away from contributing. That shouldn’t be a problem for the Giants who are at least two seasons away from relevance, especially if it means acquiring players with more upside.

Shortstop Luis Garcia and right-hander Francisco Morales would be a pair of high-ceiling prospects who fit this description perfectly.

Garcia was one of the most highly-touted prospects in the 2017 international free-agent class with all the tools to be an above-average everyday shortstop. His only plus-tool is his arm, but he tends to get above-average grades for his hit tool, speed, and glove action, to form a strong all-around package of skills.

He’s already playing at full-season ball as an 18-year-old, but he has looked overmatched at the plate so far this year.

Morales has a mid-90s fastball that he pairs with a potentially plus slider. He’s racking up strikeouts at Single-A and is comparable to one of the Giants’ best pitching prospects, Gregory Santos.

That profile, which lacks command, has heavy reliever risk, but stockpiling pitchers with plus stuff is exactly what the Giants should be looking to do.

As for the final piece, normally this would be a throw-in, but the Phillies will likely be playing from behind at the top of their offer. Other teams, like Minnesota, will have more impressive headlining prospects, which means the Phillies will have to offer a bit more in the third piece.

Switch-hitting catcher Rafael Marchan has a small 5’9” frame but shows off the necessary athleticism and arm to be an above-average defensive catcher. His size limits his power potential, but he has showcased solid bat-to-ball skills throughout his career. His defense and contact combination gives him a solid floor as a backup with the chance to justify an everyday role.

The Phillies are not going to trade the top-billed prospects like Alec Bohm or Adonis Medina and their system really thins out after that, which means they will likely have to part with some exciting low-level talent if they want to get an arm like Smith.