San Francisco Giants: Full review of the 2019 MLB trade deadline
San Francisco Giants Acquired: SS Mauricio Dubon
Milwaukee Brewers Acquired: LHP Drew Pomeranz, RHP Ray Black
When news broke that the San Francisco Giants had acquired Dubon, most assumed Bumgarner, Smith, Dyson, or Watson was heading to Milwaukee. Any of those players would have made sense. I even used Dubon in a package for Bumgarner back in my sell-off series piece on the Brewers.
It turns out none of us were creative enough to guess the real deal.
Pomeranz and Ray Black to #Brewers for Dubon, source tells The Athletic. On it: @ByRobertMurray.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 31, 2019
Pomeranz had been mentioned in trade rumors earlier this week. However, it remained a question whether he was a legitimate trade chip or just someone to trade for cash.
We all know Pomeranz for his string of success from 2014-2017 with the San Diego Padres and Boston Red Sox. Injuries derailed his 2018 season and the Giants took a flier on a rebound, signing him to a one-year, $1.5 million deal during the offseason.
Early on, he showed his strikeout stuff but dealt with extreme bouts of inconsistency. After 17 starts, Pomeranz held a 6.10 ERA and he was shifted to a relief role. In an admittedly small sample size since his role change, he’s been dominant.
In four relief appearances, Pomeranz has thrown 5.1 scoreless innings, allowing just two baserunners while striking out eight.
Reliever Ray Black has had one of the best fastballs and breaking pitches in all of baseball by both measures of velocity and spin rate for a long time.
When the Giants first drafted him, scouts across the league agreed if he could harness his control and stay healthy, he’d be one of the best relievers in baseball. He’s had moments, but inconsistency and setbacks have sent him shuffling between Triple-A and the San Francisco Giants roster.
Dubon is a 25-year old middle-infield prospect with advanced bat-to-ball skills. He doesn’t work a lot of counts, and shouldn’t be expected to hit for a lot of power, but he consistently makes solid contact to all fields. He could be an above-average defender anywhere on the infield and scouts seem to think he’s already an MLB-ready utility infielder.
If you’re bullish on the Giants side, they gave up two relievers on the fringes of their big league roster for a prospect that could be an everyday player as soon as this August or September.
From the Brewers perspective, they acquired two relievers who have shown premium strikeout stuff for a blocked prospect without an All-Star level ceiling. Furthermore, if Black puts it all together, they’ll have him under team control for multiple seasons.