San Francisco Giants targeting Angels outfielder Brian Goodwin?

The San Francisco Giants roster has undergone a massive roster overhaul since Opening Day. As the trade deadline approaches, they could be eyeing another outfield addition.

Nowhere on the San Francisco Giants roster has the ever-changing roster been more evident than in the outfield.

The Opening Day starters in the outfield were Steven Duggar, Michael Reed and Connor Joe, while Gerardo Parra and Yangervis Solarte filled bench roles. All five of those players are no longer on the active roster, and four of them are now playing for a different organization.

Fast forward to the present and production from the Giants outfield has improved by leaps and bounds thanks to the work Zaidi and company. The revamped outfield consists of Alex Dickerson, Mike Yastrzemski, Kevin Pillar, Tyler Austin and Austin Slater.

Dickerson was acquired in a trade with the San Diego Padres on June 10 and since joining the big league roster he’s hitting .391 with 19 extra-base hits and 23 RBI in 29 games. Yastrzemski was acquired in a trade with the Baltimore Orioles on March 23 and in the team’s last 15 games he’s hitting .356 with four home runs and 14 RBIs.

Pillar was acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays on April 2 and he leads the team with 25 doubles to go along with a .261 batting average. Austin was acquired on April 8 from the Minnesota Twins and he’s slugged eight home runs in 144 plate appearances.

The only in-house contributor here is Slater, who posted middling numbers at the MLB levels the past two seasons, before breaking out at Triple-A. He has a .907 OPS with five doubles and three home runs in 66 plate appearances.

Despite that improved depth, the San Francisco Giants might still be in the market for more outfield help, according to a recent report from ESPN’s Buster Olney:

The Los Angeles Angels outfielder is having a stellar season, hitting .287/.343/.480 with 18 doubles and nine home runs in 281 plate appearances. The 28-year-old is capable of manning all three outfield spots, and he has team control through the 2022 season, so it’s easy to see why he would be an attractive trade target.

He’s also been red-hot of late, hitting .343/.395/.743 with six doubles and two home runs over 38 plate appearances in July.

With an outfield of Justin Upton, Mike Trout and Kole Calhoun in place through the 2020 season and top prospect Jo Adell rising quickly through the system, he looks like an expendable part for an Angels team that is perpetually in need of pitching help.

Farhan Zaidi has managed to turn what was once a major weakness for the San Francisco Giants into a strength by finding low-cost ways to improve the outfield. If the latest rumors are true, he could be looking to catch lightning in a bottle once again as the club gears up for a postseason push.