San Francisco Giants: MLB-ready trade deadline targets, Part 1

New York Yankees

For a better idea of which San Francisco Giants players might interest the Yankees, check out the Sell-off Series.

Blocked Triple-A Players
OF Clint Frazier
IF Thairo Estrada
1B Mike Ford
LF Trey Amburgey
IF Tyler Wade

Pitchers
RHP Chance Adams

The Yankees have a deep crop of position players at the Triple-A level who have no clear path to the majors. Frazier is the biggest name in the group by far, and perhaps in this entire series, but whether he will be in play for the San Francisco Giants remains to be seen.

However, there are some other interesting upper-level minor leaguers that are more clearly blocked. Wade projects as a utility player with a below-average bat and a glove that fits all over the diamond. Estrada has rebounded from a lost 2018 season and is once again showing the potential to be an everyday shortstop with an average bat and plus defense.

Ford doesn’t really make sense for the Giants unless they are able to move Brandon Belt, and at 27 years old he’s not all that discernible from Chris Shaw. One notable difference is Ford has always controlled his strikeouts and walked a lot. He doesn’t have Shaw’s power, but he’s a safer bet to be productive.

Amburgey has never gotten much prospect love, but the Yankees have continued promoting him and at 24 he’s having his best season at Triple-A. He’s always hit for good power while splitting his time between all three outfield positions. His .279/.323/.514 line with 15 home runs isn’t actually that special in the Pacific Coast League, but at his age and with his defensive flexibility he has a power-hitting fourth-outfielder profile.

Adams has been a favorite of mine dating back a few seasons. He posted dominant numbers and was primed for a big-league call-up before he needed surgery to remove bone chips in his right elbow. When he returned last season he wasn’t as effective and saw his fastball dip in velocity from the mid to low-90s.

He still has a very good slider, but his curve and changeup have stalled developmentally and he’s essentially a two-pitch pitcher as a result.  Still, he’s rebounded a bit to be relatively effective in the Pacific Coast League and he’s an intriguing post-hype target.

That concludes part one of our blocked player breakdown. We’ll have three more teams and plenty more MLB-ready targets for the San Francisco Giants in part two, so stay tuned.