SF Giants and A's complete rarest of the rare trade

The SF Giants and Oakland A's completed a trade on Tuesday. Veteran pitcher Sean Newcomb was shipped to Oakland in exchange for 1B/OF Trenton Brooks, per the team's transaction log.

SF Giants and A's complete rarest of the rare trade

The Giants and A's have connected for a handful of trades over the past few years. However, those trades have been one-sided with one team acquiring a player and the other team receiving cash considerations in return.

In most instances, these trades have involved players on waivers. However, the teams connected for a player-for-player trade for the first time since 1990. That trade was when San Francisco acquired outfielder Darren Lewis and Pedro Pena in exchange for utility bat Ernie Riles.

12 of the 24 Perfect Games in baseball history have occurred more recently than that trade. Even the Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers have worked out a trade more recently than that.

It is a rare occasion indeed. To celebrate? Let's hope the Giants have a few extra wins in their bag of tricks as they are on a very tough slide lately.

I was hoping that Sean Newcomb would be able to help the Giants out down the stretch in a similar way that Shelby Miller did last season. Newcomb was one of the more promising young, left-handed pitchers not that long ago, but his performance has dipped due in part to a concussion that was sustained in 2019.

The veteran pitcher is no longer considered a starter, but he did excel in the bullpen with the Sacramento River Cats. In 18 outings, Newcomb posted a 3.16 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 11.5 K/9, and a 2.00 SO/W ratio in Triple-A this season. This includes an excellent 59.4 percent ground ball rate.

In return, the Giants will receive minor league outfielder Trenton Brooks. The left-handed bat was originally drafted in the 17th round of the 2016 draft by the Cleveland Guardians out of the University of Nevada - Reno. He became a free agent this past winter and latched on with Oakland on a minor league deal.

The 28-year-old is slashing .299/.405/.529 (125 wRC+) with 16 home runs, 71 RBI, and 78 runs in 412 plate appearances. This includes an excellent 13.8 percent walk rate against a 14.6 percent strikeout rate.

In the field, Brooks has experience at all three outfield positions and first base. That said, he has seen less time in center field in recent seasons. The Giants have struggled to muster any type of offensive production from much of its lineup and it is possible, if not likely, that they see what Brooks can do at some point this season. The same holds true for Newcomb and the A's.