The Rangers have officially acquired lefty Matt Moore from the Giants. Texas will also add $750K of international bonus pool spending capacity while shipping minor-league righties Sam Wolff and Israel Cruz to San Francisco.
With the move, the Giants have cut loose a pitcher that was slated to open the season as part of the organization’s rotation. As a peak at the club’s depth chart shows, the organization doesn’t exactly have an established player ready to step in, though there surely are options. Chris Stratton and Ty Blach will likely enter camp as the favorites to round out the starting unit, with pitchers such as Tyler Beede, Andrew Suarez, and Joan Gregorio also in the picture in the near future.
GM Bobby Evans says that his organization will reallocate Moore’s $9MM salary to upgrade elsewhere. (H/t Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area, via Twitter.) Certainly, the organization has been looking to add power bats all offseason long, and it’s evident now that the goal is to do so without running afoul of the $197MM luxury tax line. Evans says the club’s “focus remains to strengthen our outfield defense and our everyday lineup.” Of course, there are limits to what kind of asset can be had for the level of payroll capacity that was freed with this trade, though further dealing could open more space.
For the Rangers, Moore will fill out a southpaw-heavy starting staff — now and, perhaps, in 2019, as he can be kept at a $10MM price (or turned onto the open market with a $750K buyout). The organization has aggressively pursued pitching this offseason, with this acquisition following earlier moves that brought in Mike Minor, Doug Fister, Chris Martin, and Tony Barnette. Click here to see the updated depth chart after the move. While the Rangers have given some indication of pursuing a higher-end rotation option, at this point the staff seems mostly set unless a new opportunity arises and the organization finds a way to make all the pieces fit.
In Moore, they’ll add a hurler who seemed on his way to establishing himself as a top-end starter before Tommy John surgery intervened. Moore looked to rebound somewhat in 2016, the year in which he was shipped from the Rays to the Giants in a deadline deal that sent Matt Duffy and prospects to Tampa Bay. The southpaw ended the year with a 4.08 ERA over 198 1/3 innings, with 8.1 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9.
The Giants’ belief at that point was surely that Moore would at least continue to provide quite a few solid innings, with perhaps some hope that he’d make yet further strides. But his 2017 follow-up effort fell flat, as Moore’s velocity trended down and his swinging-strike rate sat at a full-season-low 8.6% rate. He ended the year with 174 1/3 frames of 5.52 ERA ball. Though he managed a fairly typical 7.6 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9, Moore was harmed by a 1.39 HR/9 rate.
While the primary motivation here is likely financial, the Giants will add two arms in the process. The 26-year-old Wolff had some success upon moving to the bullpen in 2017, posting a cumulative 2.93 ERA with 12.3 K/9 and 4.0 BB/9 over 43 innings split about evenly between Double-A and Triple-A. That said, he is expected to miss significant time due to injury in 2017, per ESPN.com’s Keith Law (via Twitter). Cruz, 20, has yet to advance past the Rookie ball level, where he struggled to a 5.91 ERA but did manage 11.8 K/9 against 4.5 BB/9 in 32 innings in 2017.
John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle reported the deal (Twitter link). Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area (via Twitter), ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick (via Twitter), and Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (via Twitter) all added components of the return. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (via Twitter) reported the amount of international bonus pool capacity.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Saves $9mil
If they’re getting prospects back, they’re paying down some of that salary.
Two prospects AND money from Texas.
And since the rangers took on all the salary, why would you have made that comment? Do you people really think you speak for the front office? It’s pretty obvious most commenters don’t understand trade value, or how trades work. Stop commenting if you don’t have a clue.
Dilly, Dilly!
I guess they don’t have as much money as Giants fans think they do! WoW.
Oh wow. That’s interesting. He wasn’t good last year, but he’s relatively young and cost controllable. Wonder what they got for him.
Good get
Really surprised they didn’t make the Rangers take Pence also. The Giants aren’t saving much by moving just Moore.
Its the Giants. Never be surprised by their head scratching moves. Surprised they didnt ask for Choo back
I’m curious what other head scratching moves you are referring to.
Maybe signing and extending that retirement home of a roster you have idk
like trading a cost controlled 2B to TB……then trading that pitcher for a sack of marbles…..or picking up Sandoval to fill their 3B hole?
Huh? The numbers for Wolff look good. They clear salary space.
You mean a 3rd baseman not a 2nd baseman. The same one who has played 21 games in the last two years for a pitcher with massive upside that kicked butt in the 2016 playoffs? Or Sandoval, which cost us a bag of baseballs and put butts in the seats when he returned?
Regarding the retirement home, yeah, that sucks – I don’t know why they signed Span. However, Pence was in his prime when they signed him. I don’t think they did that bad. Injuries do happen and you can’t predict them.
LA, 30 years without a title.
Still haven’t hit that 56 mark that the Vagiants had. Working on it.
The Brooklyn Bridegrooms won’t be winning anytime soon.
I love how giants fans are so obsessed with the Dodgers that they would rather make their screen names about the Dodgers sucking than rooting for their own team
The Dodgers did win a World Series in 1988 after all.
It’s called a rivalry. It has been going on for about 100 yrs now.
If you bought a house with a 30 year mortgage the last time the Dodgers won a world series title, you’d be paying the house off this upcoming season.
a one sided rivalry it is. The Dodgers don’t know and don’t care about the Giants
You are trolling for clients. Should’nt you be trolling Trump fans.
Nice troll attempt. 4/10.
Have you heard the bleachers at Dodger stadium? When the Giants come to town they take personal rivalry to a whole new level.
They do suck.
Sure they’re obsessed. I’ve seen it the other way visiting games in LA. Nice try tho.
Says the guy who came to read a story that has nothing to do with LA, and then try to make a snarky comment.
Might just be getting some depth pieces back to throw at Pittsburgh for Cutch, and saving 9 million, not a bad move at all if its a precursor to another move.
It’s actually a good move regardless, the goal from what has been said in the meetings is to get payroll down and stock prospects without blowing it up, this accomplishes a little of both
Ya. A little. Of both
Cutch, is having a hard time in CF. Needs moved to corner. If Gaints need CF, Cutch is not the one.
Why would the Rangers take two bad contracts?
Moores contract is bad?? Its 9M, not 19M.
Moore isn’t a bad contract. He had a down year, but if he rebounds to his career norms, he’ll be a very good pitcher for the money. I would imagine noone will take Pence. But Hunter Pence, while bad last year by his standards, has been a complete pain in the … to a lot of teams, and can be clutch. No, he’s no longer an elite(ish) level player, but he’s not completly a waste either. He hit .260 with 13 HR’s last year, if SF wants to eat half the salary. It would still save SF money, and every team in MLB could use a bench guy or 4th OF with those stats.
a down year? he was 17-4 in 2013, since then, all down years
why would you think he will “rebound”?
If you look at Moore as superficially as W/L records I can see why you see no chance at a bounce back. But people that look at stats other than W/L records may see a possible rebound.
Moore’s contract isn’t even close to bad.
Yes it is close at least, he had a nearly 6 era last year. Don’t see how that would net him $9m.
Because he’s a 28 year-old starting pitcher with some track record of success. He’s not worth much more than his contract (hence the mediocre return), but this is 4/5 starter money, and there’s still a perception, I think, that there’s some untapped upside here.
The fact that the Rangers picked up the deal and traded some international cash and a couple of fringe prospects suggests that it’s still an ok price tag, his terrible year notwithstanding.
Pence and Span to TX and you got a deal.
Curious to see how much we actually got. Can’t expect much because of that down year, last year. But when he’s on, Moore can be a solid pitcher
Thanks for suiting up in the orange and black, Matt. Irregardless of performance you were a classy Giant.
Indeed one of the nicest and classiest, especially in person.
ok, but I think Giants fans would like a pitcher that gets batters out
I hate to be this guy but “irregardless”? We’re still doing that?
Gives the Giants a little breathing room to address other needs. Would be nice if they found a taker for Pence, but one thing at a time. This also takes the pressure off guys like Alex Pavlovic who won’t have to constantly defend Moore’s shaky performances on Twitter.
Awe man I️ liked him
Who does it leave them money for? Arrieta?
Probably someone like jd Martinez or Lorenzo Cain
Or another trade, like Greinke.
There’s no team taking on that contract.
I don’t think the Giants are gong to sign any free agents that will cost them draft picks. I suspect a trade is coming soon.
Not Cain. The Giants aren’t losing those valuable draft picks by signing a guy who turned down a QO.
Cutch?
I think they are going to make an offer for JD Martinez and are trying to free up some cap space.
I hope not.
More likely it’s Cain.
Cain is not likely at all. The Giants have the 2nd pick in each round. They’ve already announced they wouldn’t be signing anyone that will cost them those picks.
nice
Arrieta? Please don’t say that. His numbers have been trending in the wrong direction, and not as effective as he loses mph.
Oakland A’s fans must be excited. Also funnily enough he’s been nails against all the other AL West teams. Huh.
would have been a good pickup 4 years ago. now he gets to face a DH instead of a pitcher coming off the last year.
team option for 2019. one year rental essentially. hope we didn’t give up much for him as a 4/5 starter. if it’s a top 20 prospect I’ll be irritated. guessing a couple of Sadzeck, josh morgan, or eric jenkins.
He wasn’t that bad we he DID face DH teams. He’s only been in the NL for 1 1/2 seasons.
Head scratcher at this point.
Matt moore didn’t help us win a WS. Was more sad to see Matt Duffy and Lucios Fox traded away for Matt Moore. Jake Peavey and Tim Hudson pitched better than Moore while with the Giants. Mid 30s pitchers pitched better than Moore and they hovered around 4 something ERA. Good luck Matt but not going to say your a good Giant.
How easily you forget his performances in 2016. One out away from no-hitting the dodgers. Dominating the dodgers to clinch us a postseason birth. Shutting down the Cubs that would have taken us to game 5 in the nlds? He performed for us. I would have loved to have traded Samardzija – that dude is a waste of money the day we signed him.
Matt Moore= Jonathon Sanchez. I love Barry Zito for 2012 game 5 NLCS but that’s it. Oh ya that game helped us win a WS. Moore might have pitched well but he never helped us win a WS. Sanchez even helped win a WS.
That’s because the TEAM did not make it to the World Series. Matt Moore only allowed 2 runs (1 ER) over 8 innings against he Cubs in 2016, a game in which the Giants should have won had the bullpen imploded and knocked the them out of contention.
Say what you will about Moore (and the Jonathan Sanchez comparison is not far off), but it’s not his fault that he never had the opportunity to pitch in a World Series game.
Do you realize baseball is s 25 man sport? Blame the bullpen for not winning a world series in 2016.
The cubs should have swept the giants in the 2016 NLDS. They had a 3-0 after Arrieta hit a home run off Bum. Maddon went to Chapman too early and for one game another unsung hero Connie Gillespie came out of the woodwork. And helped the giants win.
Game 4 the giants bullpen blew a 4 lead on a team that never gave up.
Whoever downvoted this clearly missed the top of the 9th in Game 4 of the 2016 NLDS.
I don’t understand why Giants fans think if their bullpen hadn’t blown the lead in Game 4, they would’ve won the series.
There was still a Game 5. Lester vs. Cueto, at Wrigley, exact same matchup and location as Game 1, which the Cubs won.
I wish they won because that would have been an NLCS matchup with the Dodgers
I don’t understand how you assume, just because Lester won Game 1, that he would have won game 5. Cueto lost 1-0. Both pitchers went 8.0 innings, with Lester shutting out the Giants on 5 hits, and Cueto giving up 1 run on 3 hits. Lester had 5 SOs, Cueto had 10,
If you think that the same match up means a Cubs win, then I’d guess you are extremely new to baseball. After all, Maddon himself said his biggest fear during the PS was the thought of having to Cueto in game 5.
I feel like if that series went back to Wrigley the Giants would have found a way to win. All the pressure would have been on the Cubs. The Giants would have also been salivating at the chance to get a shot at the Dodgers in the LCS
No one forgets 2016. But other than one game vs. the Cubs, he was mediocre that season too.
Sorry if you think Matt Moore was worth Matt Duffy, Lucius Fox, and Michael Santos. If you guys think 5.52 ERA over 174.1 innings is good. That’s your opinion. Pitching well in one game doesn’t do it for me. One game makes him decent. No it doesn’t. He almost beat the Cubs. ALMOST key word. Cueto Almost won his game but gave a homer to Javier Baez and we lost by 1. We almost won but we lost.
Does this mean the Giants are going to get Machado?
I doubt it, Manny wants to move back to SS.
Not to mention SF doens’t have the prospects to touch what Baltimore would want in return.
No
Morre stunk in a pitcher friendly park. Imagine him in Texas, yikes
So Texas has 4 mediocre lefties and one spare righty in the rotation now. World Series here we come.
Clearing salary room for Lincecum’s comeback.
These Rangers are a joke. Another bandaid added to a crappy pitching staff. Why do the Rangers not understand pitching wins championships? Other than BALT, I am not sure there is a worse SP rotation in the big leagues.
Google the Marlins
Okay – you might be right. But at this point I will take my chances with the youthful Marlins rotation over the bandaids here in Arlington.
Band aid this yr…all these guys off books next yr when biggest FA class ever hits
Didn’t they have the most money to offer Ohtani? Much like Matt Moore, Arlington is trending in the wrong direction.
3 million in international pool? Not like they were throwing Ohtani 300 million.
So you are going to sign 5 free agent starters next year? Next year, what are you going to do with Perez, 2 more years of Minor, and the unfriendly team options we now have with both Moore and Hamels.
And what makes you think they use there money on quality free agents? The Rangers got the city to build them another ballpark, and now the owner/team is shoveling profits into their pockets instead of putting a quality product on the field.
Should of started the rebuild instead of treading water hoping to finish 3rd, but probably playing for 4th in the AL West.
“…unfriendly team options we now have with both Moore and Hamels.”
How is Moore’s $10m option, $750k buyout team unfriendly? That is one of the better aspects of acquiring Moore. If he bounces back, he’s cheap for another year, and if he still can’t find it, he’s bought out extremely cheaply.
I miss read the value tied to Moore. His option is actually very reasonable. Even more so if he can reverse his recent performance trends.
What would you like them to do? Throw money at big name free agents who won’t get over the top anyways? The rangers need to stay the course with these short term bandaids you despise. Keep the powder dry..
Answer – Rebuild this sinking ship…. You can finish 4th or 5th in the American League West with or without these bandaids.
All a rebuild would do is cost you multiple years of cheap control over Gallo, Mazara, DeShields, Calhoun, Guzman, Bush, Kela, Claudio, etc., and cost you Elvis Andrus.
The Rangers have a bunch of talented young position players and some good arms in the bullpen. There’s no reason to tear things down when you can retool on the fly as Cashman did with the Yankees in 2016 and 2017.
There are plenty of pieces to build a wild card contender around right now. And JD’s done a pretty good job of adding rotation and bullpen depth this offseason without breaking the bank. If he can sign one of the top four starters on the market in addition to what he’s done already, the Rangers will have one of their deepest rotations in a very long time. And if things don’t work out, they’ll have a bunch of attractive trade chips at the deadline or next winter.
The Rangers can’t retool on the fly like the Yankees can/did/have. The Rangers don’t have the money or the farm system to do so. Sounds good in theory, but the Yankees business plan is on a much different level than the Rangers.
Daniels said it again tonight – “We will not be players in the upper end of the pitching market”. So you can rule out the Rangers signing an ace/#2 type pitcher. And hence these bandaid type signings.
Give me the quality staff over the deep bandaid staff any day. Quality players are attractive trade chips. Bandaids are just that – roster depth and fill ins. Yes, the depth helps you win a few games each year, but quality players are the reason why some organizations are successful while others are not (your Texas Rangers).
Pretty easy. You either go all in with 2 of Arrieta, Darvish, Cobb, Lynn, etc. or you tank and rebuild. Putting band aids on broken bones isn’t going to do much good
Daniels already said they aren’t tanking with Beltre on the team
What a maroon.
Maroon is a color…
Seriously? The shade of red?
Get out of here…
I guess well known Looney Tunes references aren’t so well known anymore.
Dude you gave up one 26 yo relief pitcher ranked as their 27th best prospect and another not listed at all on the top 30 list. They’re are taking a gamble they can turn him around. It’s just a pure money risk.
That is just it…. They spent 9 million dollars on a gamble. Coming from a team who is already tight on cash, is not going to compete anyways, a player that is trending the wrong direction, has a coaching/training staff that has failed miserably in other reclamation pitching projects, and the organization really can’t afford to be parting with anybody from there gutted minor league system (no matter where they are ranked). I would much rather see the Rangers reduce the overall payroll now, and spend money on quality players when the time comes.
To get Moore, we lost a possible franchise 3b and fan favorite and a 19 Year old Fox which I heard might be moved to outfield but nowhere ready and needs at least 2 more years.at the end we might get a top 10 prospect and a couple of single A prospects. Pretty much means they are going to rely on Ty Blach at Lefty and opens a spot up for Stratton or Beede.
Worse 2 low level prospects and cash. Duffy healthy we wouldn’t be thinking of a new 3B. Fox would have been a good trading chip for this offseason. But Evans wanted Moore in 2016. Hated that we traded Duffy. Why do that? He was young and controllable and athletic enough to play IF and OF.
How many games has Duffy played since been traded? Achilles injuries absolutely derail a career. Ask Ryan Howard. Giants were smart go trade Duffy. And Fox hasnt shown much in minor leagues either.
Duffy is in no way a Franchise 3b. The Rays are moving him to SS.
Duffy has been hurt ever since the trade. No power, one good year. Fox is not a sure thing. Trade has been a wash so far with the needle tilted towards Rays going forward based on potential of Duffy and Fox.
Duffy is not a franchise 3b.
He is when your other option is the panda.
Uhhh…Wrong.
Saves them some money but the way that fits post was I was thinking they were gonna save a bunch of money. Gotta be another move coming right? And why are they freeing up money? They plan on signing a big free agent like JD?
Safe to say the Rangers are taking a quantity approach as to a quality approach.
Agreed this is painful.
Daniels has a fetish for pitchers who are two years or so removed from Tommy John surgery.
only thing that makes any sense to me at this point is, a major upgrade probably in the OF for a similar cost, to attempt to stay under the luxury tax threshold, hoping 1 year of Cutch isnt going to cost us a fortune in prospects.
Honestly, if the Pirates were to get Clint Frazier in a Gerrit Cole trade, I’d see them pretty much dumping Cutch’s salary for a middling return.
Pretty sure they’d just trade him for value instead.
Pretty sure you’ve forgotten the Walker and Liriano trades.
McCutcheon is not the answer. The Giant’s hole in CF is a priority and Cutch just isn’t the elite fielder they need. He also has only one year left on his contract. I would much prefer them signing someone like Dyson, and try to get more power elsewhere..
Cutch, is having a hard time in CF. Needs moved to corner. If Giants need CF, Cutch is not the one.
Good trade for the Rangers
Bye Matty Mo.
When MLBTR posted that Giants were about to cut payroll via a trade, this is not really what I had in mind.
Was hoping Samardzija would be the one to go.
Shart actually had value last year and I feel like if anyone earned his place to stay last year it was him
The $9m saved gets you Prado with the Marlins eating the remaining $4.5m
Dyson was a steal last year. Wolff sounds solid to shore up the bullpen. Maybe Strickland will be part of a package going to Pittsburgh for Cutch.
Wolff out first half of year due to injury
Interesting trade. Yes, Texas needed more depth. Hope they don’t regret trading their minor leaguers like they did in the Matt Garza trade (Kyle Hendricks+). Giants best bet is to do a modern day rebuild.
Exactly what young pitching did JD dump? Horrible Matt Garza (Carl Edwards Jr+) and Ryan Dempster (Kyle Hendricks+) trades.
Luis Ortiz and brinson for lucroy lol
Corey Knebel, Tanner Roark, Chris Young, and John Danks were all dealt in bad deals, too. I like JD, but he’s got a few deals where he’s been robbed. That being said, I think this is a good deal for the Rangers.
Why do I keep seeing you guys commenting on here saying McCutchen is going to the Giants. Is there something I’m missing? Haven’t heard anything about them gettin McCutchen. And why are the Giants trying to dump salary? Rebuild or getting ready to sign someone? Just curious if anyone knows.
HOLY MOLY! Cruz has only given up one home run in his career! San Fran might have a diamond in the rough.
With a Rangers hell, Jon Daniels wants MOORE MOORE MOORE
nice Billy Idol reference there
As a Giant’s fan I’m sort of disappointed that they traded Moore away. He is a bounce back candidate. Had he been uniformly bad in 2017 I wouldn’t have thought that. But he was really good in about a third of his starts. In his 2nd start against AZ he went 8 innings, and gave up only 1 run on 3 hits without a walk. In his 5th start against LAD he threw 7 innings, gave up only 1 run on 2 hits and struck out 8. He went 7 innings against the Nats in his 11th start, giving up 2 runs on 6 hits with 5 Ks and 0 walks.
He had 7 other starts going at least 6 innings and giving up only 2 runs or less. His overall stats show he needs fixing, but his showing the ability to pitch well indicates that he can be fixed. I really hope the Rangers can fix whatever is wrong, and Matt does bounce back, even if it isn’t with the Giants
Well personally I am glad to see him go, not because I don’t think he good but he wasn’t consistent, when he was good he was really good but when he was bad he was terrible and it happened often enough that you never knew what you were going to get in the mound
No argument here. It was very frustrating watching the guy, because you could see that he could be very good, but most of the time he wasn’t, and sometimes he was just godawful. Still, I’ll be rooting for him to find answers and pitch to his potential.
Who even takes on 9 million of a guys contract who had a mid 5’s era last season? You can get the same production on a minor league deal.. or at least pretty darn close. General managers these days.. on top of all that you actually give up a couple of prospects to get him. I don’t know.. doesn’t make much sense to me. If a change a scenery is what’s needed for Moore, to get him back on track, and Texas is that place for him, good for him and the rangers. But.. I don’t know, many other, much cheaper options available then this one.
Sweet, you can be the GM then if JD is so trash like you say.
Don’t know who “JD” is, I assume it’s the Rangers gm? Just because someone has a certain occupation, doesn’t mean they are good at it. Many people who work in sports who aren’t very good at their jobs. Taking on 9 million for a guy who had an awful era, and his been wildly inconsistent, while also having to give up a couple of prospects to get this player, isn’t a very good move.
Does this mean a fire sale only they keep mad bum and Posey? They have no pitching outside of MadBum. Cueto could be unhitttable one game and the next he can’t get out of the 2nd inning.
Stratton had a solid season. Beede is ready.
Never heard of them. They also have a cancer in Samardzija who at best is an emergency spot starter
“Never heard of them.”
Stratton had 10 starts in 2017, and Tyler Beede was a #1 pick. That would lead one to believe you know nothing about the Giants, and yet you feel qualified to comment about them.
Then do a little research before commenting, or atleast read the story that you’re commenting on. Asking too much ?
If you have never heard of Chris Stratton, you have obviously not paid attention to the Giants. He was a starter in 2016 & 17. You had to have noticed him. How is the Shark a Cancer?
Not a giants fan. I’m a cubs fan.
Shark is a cancer because he just is. The cubs when they were bad had him as the ace. He’s not even a #6 starter. The giants have him as their #3 now that Moore is gone who was their #2. Cueto is now number 2.
“He’s a cancer because he just is”. Great logic
He was an all Star during his last season (before being traded for your middle infielders) as a cub. He may not be worth his contract, but he isn’t a cancer. If you don’t follow baseball, why are you on this site?
Their middle infielders? They got Russell for Shark. Baez was drafted and Zobrist signed in 2016 (2015 offseason). LaStella was also a trade with Atlanta. So, if you mean he was traded for Russell, then you are correct. Oh and I agree with you, he’s not a cancer. Dude actually is a great teammate and wants to win badly.
He was an all star and they refused to let him play for the AL team. Which is a stupid rule.
Moore wasn’t a #3 starter. He was actually the #5 starter.
What’s that have to do with the fact that you called him a cancer with no validation to your statement?
“…unhitttable one game and the next he can’t get out of the 2nd inning.”
Apparently you didn’t see Cueto pitch much. In 25 starts in 2017 he got out of the 2nd inning in all of them. He went at least 5 innings in all but 2. Yes he had a sub-par season because blisters bothered him most of the season. But if that issue is resolved, he’ll probably be expected to pitch closer to his brilliant 2016 season than what he did in 2017.
2016 the Giants were in desperate need for a starting pitcher. They probably don’t make the playoffs without the trade. I loved watching Duffy, big fan when I first saw him play in A-ball. That been said his bat was trending the wrong direction and Nunez could fill his spot. Plus They exspected Arroyo to be ready and take over 3b by 2018.
Fine with this from a Giants fan’s perspective. Moore was the definition of inconsistent … either unhittable or a train wreck. You could certainly hope for the bounceback but considering that any AAA arm could give you what he did last season for a fraction of the cost, so be it. If the prospects they acquired do anything, it’s icing on the cake. Have full faith in Stratton or Beede over Moore.
I think anyone would take Hunter Pence and his contract instead of the other Pence….
Giants need a CF and Hamilton is it. He can flat out run and catch anything.
And can’t hit to save his life.
Wait. Didn’t the Giants lose Andrew Suarez to the Rule 5 Draft? Might be hard to insert him in the rotation if he’s not with the club.
They lost Albert Suarez. They still have Andrew Suarez, a pitcher.
You need a little luck in building a rotation and that means taking chances on pitchers coming off a bad season and/or getting a little older. Was there any reason to believe last year at this time the Dodgers would have had the seasons they had from Alex Wood and Rich Hill? Not to mention Chris Taylor coming out of nowhere, Justin Turner hitting 322. Then getting a bounceback season from Puig, a guy the Dodgers seemed ready to give away and Cody Bellinger setting a rookie record for HR’s in spite of missing the first three weeks of the season in the minors. IT TAKES SOME LUCK!
Yeah but the Dodgers have serious depth. Rich Hill and Turner were not surprises. They were both coming off great season and were big free agent signings. Wood was a surprise and Puig had a bounce back season. LA has so much depth that a couple guys each year will break out. If not, then they plug in another talented player.
SF is depending on people to over perform and when they don’t, their season is over.
Money can buy depth. 6/7 Teams have it.
Dodgers depth guys are mostly making very small amounts of money
“Dodgers depth guys are mostly making very small amounts of money”
So why has their payroll been so astronomical? Sure, cherry-pick a bunch of bench guys.that don’t have big salaries. but overall, unlike most teams, the Dodgers can compensate for injuries better because the have the depth that other teams can’t afford.
I agree that Turner’s 2017 was no surprise, but the Dodgers were still very lucky with him. Traded by the Reds to the O’s, claimed off waivers by the Mets, and then released, no one, including the Dodgers, expected the player he is now. In his first 6 seasons with the O’s and Mets he put a line of .260/.323/.361, with an OPS+ of 92. He’s averaged a 139 OPS+ in 4 seasons as a Dodger.
Luck? seems like guys performing at a high level to me
Nice move by the Rangers. I don’t know that losing Moore and his $9 mil gets the Giants that much closer to signing an impact bat, among their other needs. I know their primary aim must be to stay under the luxury tax, but I believe they still have every intention of contending, so I guess they gotta stretch that $9 mil.
Now if the Giants can find a way to shed Span’s salary, and acquire Billy Hamilton, McCutchen and Todd Frazier, they just may be able to compete again.
What the Reds are asking for Hamilton’s “one trick pony” skillset is absurd.