SF Giants make their move, acquire Kris Bryant from Cubs

The SF Giants have made their first big move of the MLB trade deadline, acquiring Chicago Cubs star Kris Bryant, according to a report by ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Bryant should immediately man the hot corner in San Francisco until Evan Longoria returns from injury. At that point, Bryant will likely move around the field, likely seeing extensive playing time in the outfield. The Giants parted with prospects outfielder Alexander Canario and pitcher Caleb Kilian in the deal. Our own Marc Delucchi was the first to report Kilian’s inclusion in the deal, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area was the first to report the complete deal.

Canario was ranked the 10th-best prospect in the Giants organization and Kilian was unranked heading into the year. After returning for Opening Day after injuring his shoulder last offseason, Canario would easily rank among the Giants top eight prospects now. Kilian has excelled between High-A and Double-A, possibly having the biggest jump of any pitcher in the organization. He would have likely slotted into the organization’s top-15 prospects in a midseason update.

The SF Giants acquired Cubs star Kris Bryant.

The Giants have been tied to Bryant throughout the leadup to the trade deadline, but nothing was ever set in stone. After the Dodgers made a blockbuster trade on Thursday for Max Scherzer and Trea Turner, there were significant questions about how the Giants would respond. With big moves flying around on deadline day, it became hard to know whether San Francisco would make a significant trade of their own. Now, they’ve answered by adding one of the biggest bats in the league.

After a down 2020 season, Bryant has returned to form this year, hitting .267/.358/.503 with 18 home runs in 93 games. He has almost evenly split his time playing third base, left field, and right field, but also has played more than a dozen games at first base and center field. A four-time All-Star, Bryant is a career .279/.378/.508 hitter with 160 home runs.

Bryant is a Scott Boras client with no team control beyond 2021. Afraid to lose him in free agency, the Cubs clearly wanted to recoup some more controllable long-term pieces for one of the stars of their 2016 World Series championship run. Boras is most known for big free-agent contracts, so the Giants may not be able to extend Bryant before the end of the season. Of course, the Giants aren’t acquiring Bryant for 2022, but to help them make a deep playoff run this fall.

The SF Giants finally made a big splash this summer, acquiring Kris Bryant from the Chicago Cubs. Stay tuned for news on the package of players that president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi will send to the Cubs.