San Francisco Giants: Is Scooter Gennett a candidate to be re-signed?

The San Francisco Giants found a new second baseman at the trade deadline. Will Scooter Gennett be around beyond the 2019 season?

This year’s MLB trade deadline was a busy time for the San Francisco Giants.

One of the top acquisitions at the deadline was second baseman Scooter Gennett, who was an All-Star in 2018 and is just a year removed from back-to-back 20-homer seasons.

However, he missed much of the first half with a groin injury, and he’s now set to reach free agency at the end of the year.

That leaves the Giants front office with a decision to make based on how he performs down the stretch.

The 29-year-old is 9-for-37 with three doubles and two home runs in 40 plate appearances since joining the San Francisco Giants. That’s good for a 97 OPS+ and represents a major upgrade over what the second base position has produced for most of the year.

The first option for the Giants is to re-sign him in an effort to bring some stability to the second base position. That would allow Mauricio Dubon, who was also acquired at the trade deadline and currently ranks as the team’s No. 8 prospect per MLB.com, more time to develop in Triple-A.

A one or two-year deal would seem to make the most sense for both sides. It would give the Giants a stopgap at the position without blocking Dubon, while it would give Gennett a chance to rebuild his value for another run at free agency.

Otherwise, the Giants could let Gennett walk in favor of another outside addition.

Jonathan Schoop (95 OPS+ 16 HR) and Brian Dozier (93 OPS+, 17 HR) are the top options on this year’s free-agent market, while Mike Moustakas (110 OPS+, 27 HR) also saw time at second this year before shifting back to his natural position of third base.

On the trade market, the Chicago Cubs could be a potential trade partner, with Addison Russell and Ian Happ representing potentially expendable pieces for the Cubs.

The final option would be to simply turn things over to Dubon.

The 25-year-old is hitting .292/.333/.465 with 25 doubles and 17 home runs at the Triple-A level this season, and he has shown above-average defensive skills to boot.

San Francisco Giants team president Farhan Zaidi has some big decisions to make this offseason, and what to do at second base will be one of the biggest.