9:10pm: The trade is official, as per a Blue Jays media release.
8:52pm: The Giants will receive either cash or a player to be named later, tweets Schulman. He notes that this is also what San Francisco got from Boston in the Kevin Frandsen deal last month.
8:43pm: Schulman tweets that an official announcement is coming soon. He notes that Lewis has updated his Facebook page to say that he's going to the Jays.
7:49pm: According to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle, he is hearing "strong indications from multiple sources" that the Giants are trying to finalize a trade that would send outfielder Fred Lewis to Toronto. Schulman doesn't know as of yet what San Francisco will get in return.
Andrew Baggarly of The San Jose Mercury News reported on Tuesday that Toronto was "the most likely destination" for Lewis, who had become expendable in San Fran given their glut of outfielders. Lewis is out of options, and since his minor league rehab stint was up today, the Giants had to either expose him to waivers or work out a trade. Earlier tonight, Schulman passed on a report from Fresno Grizzlies radio broadcaster Doug Greenwald (via Twitter) that Lewis wasn't in the lineup for the Giants' Triple-A affiliate, leading to speculation that a deal could be forthcoming.
Lewis has a career 4.8 UZR/150 as an outfielder, and that rating jumps to 10.2 as a left fielder (though it plummets well below average in CF and RF, albeit in a much smaller sample size). Toronto would likely use him primarily as a late-inning defensive replacement in the outfield and a pinch-runner. Given Lewis' .805 OPS in 838 career plate appearances against right-handed pitching, though, Lewis could also take some playing time away from starting right fielder Jose Bautista, who has just a .225/.316/.364 career line against righties.
All I can say is thank god! I hope Lewis can straighten it up in Toronto, just so his talents are wasted.
i hope he does too. this guy has gone through a lot in his life and is really good. i was a bat boy a few years ago here and fresno and hes a great guy to have in the clubhouse and if he can get on base he could lead the league in stolen bases. not to mention he shows power by going opposite field in SF a few times.
Lewis is not in the lineup tonight in AAA Fresno, even though he has been blistering hot in his rehab assignment in the 4 games he has played in since he was eligible to come off the DL last Sunday.
Given Lewis or Bautista in right field, I’d take Lewis. I just hope they don’t give up something that they’ll regret later on.
Could it be one of the relief pitchers Tim talked about earlier going to SF? I would be surprised…I’m actually surprised that it’s the Jays that picked up Lewis, even though they could use a better leadoff-type hitter. Maybe Lewis is the answer?
Trade is not even close to finalized yet.
Lewis is not worth Downs, Frasor or even Gregg IMO. Keith Law opined that Lewis could be had for a PTBNL.
Prophecy, hullo!
A late inning defensive replacement? Good luck with that, the guy was absolutely horrid on the field last year.
if the Jays can get him without giving up something quality then i love it! i have no idea on his contract status other than he is out of options, but Lewis could be the leadoff hitter going forward. the Jays see Adam Lind as DH going forward so with Lewis that could give the Jays an OF of Lewis/Wells/Snider. Batista can go to the bench where he belongs, for now. im sure Batista is an option to be traded this season since he has no future with the Jays.
Wish the Nationals would go after Fred Lewis. He would be a perfect fit there.
Maybe Lewis for Bautista?
Not sure if that would work for the Giants. They have 3rd base covered, and if they were looking for an outfield piece, Lewis would be the better (and cheaper) fit. I’d have to imagine it’s a bullpen piece.
Accardo or Valdez would be my two choices if it was for bullpen help.
Brian Sabean would love Accardo back after he gave him up for a nearly DFA’d Shea Hillenbrand for him.
that would have been a sick deal aha
Apparently, Fred Lewis just tweeted that he is now a Blue Jay.
No, it was not Twitter, it was his Facebook page.
Via NY Daily Times’ Jesse Spector (@JesseSpector): “RT @fdotlew: Fred (Lewis) is now a Blue Jay!!”
Stand corrected. Fred’s thumbs are going as wild as mine I guess.
HI WILNER!!
Schulman says its for the proverbial PTBNL or cash.
Edwin Encarnacion to the Giants please.
In my opinion, pretty bad trade..
platoon fred lewis and batista
and getting lewis for cash is a solid deal for the jays.
This is a pretty solid deal all-around.
I think that this is the obvious plan: a platoon between Lewis and Bautista. I talked about this on BtBS, but a Lewis/Bautista RH/LH platoon would give the Blue Jays a potentially above average combination in right field, and a huge upgrade over having Bautista play everyday.
could giants fans please enlighten me as to what happened with fred lewis? i dont get to watch the giants much because i live on the east coast… but i remember him bursting on the scene. i just looked at his career line and it looks pretty solid for a young athletic player… could someone help me understand why he would be traded for a player to be named later? i just dont get it…
One week of 2 blown saves and let’s run him out of town! Go call Wilner and talk about how Gregg is the next Mariano. *Yawn.
wow, I didn’t know we judged guys on the first week of baseball. Jays shoulda went after Teixeira, he’s only hitting .091, I bet a PTBNL would be enough for him.
Yeah, a Jason Frasor that throws 90-92 with a 79-81 slider is far less scary than the 93-95, 83-85 slider version of last season.