San Francisco Giants: Building a trade with the Philadelphia Phillies

San Francisco Giants Trade Proposal #3

To Phillies: LHP Madison Bumgarner
To Giants: RHP Spencer Howard, RHP Mauricio Llovera, OF Mickey Moniak

While Will Smith may be the most valuable pitcher on the San Francisco Giants roster, Madison Bumgarner is obviously the biggest name.

Bumgarner would slot into the top of the Phillies rotation alongside Aaron Nola and Jake Arrieta while also giving them a southpaw to help balance a righty-heavy rotation.

While Bumgarner is not his old ace self, he has regained some of the velocity he lost over the last couple of seasons and his strikeout rate is up. Home runs have been an issue, but he still has the best resume of any starter on the trade market.

The closest comparison is probably the Yu Darvish trade that brought the Texas Rangers back a top-100 prospect (Willie Calhoun) and two other players ranked in their system’s top 20 from the Los Angeles Dodgers.

I’ve always been high on right-hander Spencer Howard and he got off to an impressive start to 2019 at High-A. He has four potentially above-average pitches with a plus fastball and plus changeup. However, he has been on the injured list dealing with “shoulder discomfort” for an extended period of time now and that makes him far from a sure thing.

Another righty, Mauricio Llovera, has a nasty arsenal that combines a plus fastball with legit slider and splitter that gives him a high floor as a backend reliever. His 5’11, 200-pound frame also raises questions about the potential workload he could handle. He’s only 23, though, and holding his own as part of the Double-A rotation.

Finally, Philadelphia fans have been disappointed with Mickey Moniak’s progression since he was selected No. 1 overall in the 2016 draft. He has continued to progress through the minor leagues and is already at Double-A, but still has yet to fully tap into the offensive game that made him such a highly-touted prep.

This package would give the San Francisco Giants three players with some exciting upside, but all carry some risk that should make the Phillies willing to part with them as part of an all-in approach.

If the San Francisco Giants and Philadelphia Phillies do end up pulling the trigger on a trade this summer, these three proposals could serve as the framework.