SF Giants yet yet yet another trade with the Seattle Mariners

Chances are, when Jerry Dipoto's phone rings, SF Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi is on the other end. The Giants and Mariners have been frequent trade partners as they have hooked up for three trades in the past week.

SF Giants yet yet yet another trade with the Seattle Mariners

The first trade was sending Mike Ford back to the Mariners in exchange for cash. If you recall, Ford was traded to the Giants from Seattle at the end of April in exchange for cash. The second trade was acquiring infielder Donovan Walton in exchange for pitching prospect Prelander Berroa.

On Saturday, the Giants and Mariners completed yet another trade as middle infielder Alex Blandino was shipped to Seattle in exchange for outfielder Stuart Fairchild. Fairchild was designated for assignment earlier in the week by the Mariners.

The Giants originally signed Blandino as infield depth in the offseason. He had a nice Cactus League with San Francisco as he recorded nine hits, including two home runs, in 21 at-bats. He struggled to carry that momentum into the regular season in Triple-A, posting a .590 OPS in 97 plate appearances.

The Giants have aggressively bolstered middle infield depth in the upper minors recently by acquiring Luke Williams and Walton, so it is fair to say that Blandino had fallen down the depth chart despite his experience.

In Fairchild, the Giants are getting a right-handed-hitting outfielder who has two minor league options remaining after this season. He was originally drafted in the second round of the 2017 draft by the Cincinnati Reds out of Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Since then, he has had brief stints in both the Arizona Diamondbacks and Mariners organizations. In five minor league seasons, Fairchild has slashed .274/.361/.440 with a 9.5 percent walk rate against a 20.8 percent strikeout rate. He has also reached base via a hit by a pitch in 2.7 percent of his plate appearances as well.

The 26-year-old outfielder reached Triple-A in 2021 and has registered a .282/.382/.536 line with 12 home runs, 34 RBI, and 34 runs in parts of two seasons at the highest minor league level.

Fairchild has appeared briefly in the majors with both the Diamondbacks and the Mariners where he has recorded just two hits in 20 plate appearances. After losing Jaylin Davis to waivers and Mauricio Dubón to a trade with the Astros, the Giants needed more outfield depth from the right side and the addition of Fairchild achieves this end.