SF Giants acquire OF Mike Tauchman from Yankees for LHP Wandy Peralta

The SF Giants added outfielder Mike Tauchman to their organization on Tuesday in a trade with the New York Yankees. San Francisco agreed to part with left-handed reliever Wandy Peralta and a player to be named later in the deal. Jack Curry of YES Network originally reported a Tauchman for Peralta swap.

While both players play very different roles, they each have had similar career arcs. Tauchman was drafted by the Colorado Rockies and slowly made his way through the organization’s minor-league ranks. After a pair of mediocre big-league stints, Colorado sent him to the Yankees in a small trade before the 2019 season. After a series of injuries depleted the Yankees’ outfield depth, Tauchman received an opportunity and immediately made an impact. In 87 games (296 plate appearances), he hit 13 home runs and managed a strong .277/.361/.504 triple-slash.

The SF Giants traded Wandy Peralta and a PTBNL to the New York Yankees for Mike Tauchman.

Tauchman failed to replicate that success in 2020, though, hitting just .242/.342/.305 in 111 plate appearances. With plenty of big bats on the roster, he was quickly relegated on the depth chart and seemed like a prime trade candidate. While he’s hitting just .214/.267/.286 thus far in 2021, he’s appeared in just 11 of the Yankees 22 games and received only 16 plate appearances.

A good athlete, capable of playing above-average defense across the outfield, Tauchman should offer a left-handed-hitting option in center the Giants have been sorely missing. Even if his power output from 2019 never returns, Tauchman has consistently put the ball in play and worked walks throughout his professional career at a solid enough rate to be productive.

Peralta was signed as an international free agent by the Cincinnati Reds and pitched in their big-league bullpen for parts of four seasons before they designated him for assignment in 2019. The Giants quickly scooped him up off waivers, and he soon found his place in the bullpen as a swiss-army knife in middle-relief, occasionally high-leverage, and long-relief roles. Over his time in San Francisco, Peralta appeared in 43 games (41.1 innings), struck out 38, walked 15, and recorded a 3.70 ERA (4.14 FIP).

While many are pointing to Mike Yastrzemski‘s recent oblique injury as the motivator for the trade, Tauchman seems like a more obvious compliment to Austin Slater and Mauricio Dubón in center field. A left-handed hitter with no history of platoon splits (career .743 OPS against righties and .778 OPS against lefties) and a track record of playing average or better defense at all three outfield positions, he seems like the perfect fit in center field.

Peralta has been a trustworthy arm for manager Gabe Kapler throughout 2021. Still, with a plethora of left-handed relievers on the big-league roster and at the alternate site, the Giants should have the depth to handle moving an arm. On the flip side, their 40-man roster now contains 10 outfielders. It’s not out of the question that we could see an outfielder like Steven Duggar or Jaylin Davis designated for assignment to add a reliever like Nick Tropeano or Dominic Leone to the big-league roster at some point soon.

The SF Giants acquired outfielder Mike Tauchman in a trade with the New York Yankees for left-handed pitcher Wandy Peralta and a player to be named later. Assuming the Giants do not part with a significant piece as a player to be named later, the transaction adds an intriguing bat to the organization.