SF Giants insider thinks top prospect may be as good as gone

The most exciting move the SF Giants could make the rest of this season would be to call up top prospect Bryce Eldridge. He has long seemed like he could be a future face of the franchise, but one insider believes he could be traded away.

Tim Kawakami of the San Francisco Standard recently spoke with John Shea, also of the Standard, on his podcast The TK Show about the Giants. He made a bold prediction that the Giants will move on from Eldridge, saying, "It almost feels like to me, like at some point, Bryce Eldridge is getting traded. I just don't know how you fit all these pieces."

SF Giants insider predicts team will trade top prospect Bryce Eldridge

Kawakami went on to say, "This is just me supposing. But man, the left-handedness of this team is going to be a problem. Like they already can't hit left-handed pitching.” This was part of a discussion that also noted the fact that Eldridge is a first baseman which is also the primary position that Rafael Devers will play for the team when he is not the designated hitter.

The longtime Bay Area sports insider seems to think it is just not going to work with the number of left-handed hitters in the lineup coupled with the potential logjam at first base.

If the Giants did have Eldridge on the big league squad, that would mean the Giants would have three everyday starters in the lineup who bat left-handed with Devers, Eldridge, and center fielder Jung Hoo Lee. That is not an excessive amount, but his point about the team being unable to do much of anything against southpaws is well-taken and backed up by the stats.

Still, trading away Eldridge would be a pretty drastic move by the front office. We know president of baseball operations Buster Posey is not afraid to make big moves as evidenced by his blockbuster trade for Devers, but the return for Eldridge would have to be pretty spectacular for him to pull the trigger.

The Giants would have to get at least one or two proven MLB players who would be able to make an immediate impact to justify a huge trade like that. Eldridge's power potential is very enticing even if he may be hurt a bit by Oracle Park so they could probably get a good haul for him.

Kawakami's reasoning makes some sense, but this just feels like too drastic of a move for the Giants to make anytime soon. Maybe if they try things out with both Eldridge and Devers and it does not work they will have to make a move, but as of right now Eldridge does seem like an important part of the team's future plans.

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