SF Giants swing trade for veteran bat from Seattle Mariners

The SF Giants and Seattle Mariners have connected for a trade. Tell me if you have heard that one before. This time, it was a move involving veteran bat AJ Pollock coming to San Francisco, per a team announcement.

SF Giants swing trade for veteran bat from Seattle Mariners

The Giants also received versatile infielder Mark Mathias as well, who was optioned to Sacramento. Seattle will receive cash considerations or a player to be named later. To create room on the 40-man roster, the Giants transferred John Brebbia (lat strain) to the 60-day injured list. The 40-man roster is now full.

The Giants are very familiar with Pollock due to his time with both the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Los Angeles Dodgers. The 35-year-old spent his first seven seasons with Arizona, then the next three with Los Angeles, and the last two with the Chicago White Sox and Mariners.

Pollock has put together a very nice career, which includes a Gold Glove award and an NL All-Star nod. That said, those honors were earned a long time ago. Nevertheless, he has produced a .273/.328/.464 (111 OPS+) with 7.0 walk rate against a 17.7 percent strikeout rate throughout his career.

The Giants have the third-highest strikeout rate in baseball at 24.9 percent, so the addition of Pollock should help them improve in that category.

Of course, this is a move that is based more on track record than recent performance. The right-handed bat has struggled to the tune of a .547 OPS in 138 plate appearances this year. This is just a season after he tallied a .681 OPS in 527 plate appearances with the White Sox.

Despite his struggles, Pollock has typically been a good hitter in platoon matchups as he has posted an .838 OPS against left-handed pitching throughout his 12-year career. The Giants have struggled badly against lefties this year, posting a .672 OPS, so they hope that Pollock can help in these matchups.

He had been on the injured list with a hamstring strain but could be activated tomorrow according to Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. The Giants had a need for a right-handed bat and seemingly checked that box off but there is still work to be done. And, the Mariners and Giants could connect on another trade before tomorrow is over.