The Giants and Angels have swung an intrastate deal involving a pair of pitchers. Southpaw Williams Jerez is heading up to San Francisco in exchange for righty Chris Stratton.
Jerez, 26, will give the San Francisco organization a left-handed relief option. That could come in handy if the club ends up moving one or more of its veterans. Jerez handed out six walks to go with six strikeouts in 7 1/3 spring innings after struggling in his first 15 MLB frames last year. But he also showed a mid-nineties heater and the ability to get swings and misses (11.8% SwStr) at the game’s highest level and carried 12.0 K/9 in 55 2/3 innings over 38 Triple-A appearances.
The Giants will have the opportunity to shuttle Jerez up and down as they see fit. That would not have been the case with regard to Stratton, who is out of options. Presumably, then, the Halos see a spot for the former first-round pick on their MLB staff as either a starter or long reliever. The 28-year-old has worked to a 4.63 ERA with 7.1 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 in 213 2/3 innings in the majors. He hasn’t excited much at Triple-A either, with 327 total frames of 4.10 ERA ball, but could help stabilize a Halos staff that has seen quite a lot of turnover in recent years.
I like it. Adds depth in a crucial area and I wasn’t optimistic on Jerez.
You shouldn’t have any more optimism about Stratton
At least he’s had relative success in the bigs…
Relative to what? Aside from 2 or 3 starts, he has not
As frustrating as this off season has been, it is of some comfort to know the we won’t see Stratton on the mound for the Giants this season. Time to move Blach as well and bring in more fire power! Move on from the mediocrity!
Hahahahaha your prob right, but it feels good to hope
I like it for the Giants, too. He was out of options and they needed spot for Trevor Gott (who had an impressive Spring). Good move all around.
yeah it would be a crime if Bergen or gott missed a roster spot because you are protecting a guy a lot less worthy
Yeah I dig it, team control power lefty with some work to do, Stratton will be in the Angels rotation eh?
Good trade. Stratton gets a chance to prove himself, maybe a change of scenery is what he needs.
However,the Giants could have gotten more.
Fresh meat for the Angels’ training staff
The Giants should deal Tony Watson or Will Smith. The article references this. An injury to a competitive team’s lefty and a good start by one of them should set this in motion.
Tony Watson and Aramis Garcia for Nick Castellanos!
I agree that Castellanos would be a nice fit but I really prefer to get someone signed beyond this year. If Det can sign him for 3-4 yrs and then trade him, let’s do it!! otherwise let’s get someone who will be here more than a year.
The Giants don’t need a DH.
Nick “can’t catch a thing” Castellanos in right field? Easier said than done, but only if you sit in the arcade and politely critique his defense. Tony Watson was leaking oil late last year and Aramis played better when called up than his time in AAA. I think it’s a wait and see until July trade deadline for both.
So when is Stratton due in Dr. Andrews office?
Good luck to Stratton down in LA. At times he pitched very well for SF, including no hitter against Mets.
You might be thinking of Chris Heston
Heston.
Has there been any discussion in Bay Area media regarding Ian Happ? Cubs demoted him and he is FA after this year. You’d think Cubs would look to trade him for someone useful this season and not a prospect. That would be a trade the giants could be in on considering they don’t have prospects to offer.
Do the cubs need relievers?
Yes they do. Maybe Watson or Smith for him was if SF think they can extend him
It’s just that I listen to all these Bay Area sports talk shows and giants beat writers and no one mentions happ. Since they hadn’t I figured there wasn’t interest. But hell he plays center and other positions, which makes him a Zaidi-ite. And has power. He’s perfect for their needs.
I checked rosters, and you’re right yankee, they need lefty relievers. I don’t like giving away smith tho. Watson and dyson maybe. Or Watson and a position player they just picked up maybe. Or Williamson
And switch hits
yeah that was Heston but Stratton has looked really good at times. change of scenery might be the thing for him. Blach is another commitment to mediocrity
Golly, those TJ jokes never get old. Except they do.
I get the move, not crazy about it but oh well. It would seem another deal is coming soon where Smith might be headed out of town soon. A lot of lefties on the roster and opening day is Thursday and they haven’t set the rotation or closer. Today should be interesting. Probably another outfielder heading our way very soon and one who is more accomplished than the recent additions
I have to say it again… Tony Watson and Aramis Garcia for Nick Castellanos!
trying to think of why the rebuilding Tigers would have interest in Tony Watson.
Angels must have a thing against lefties. Stratton isn’t terrible but kind of hard to see where he fits in at the moment. 6 man rotation again this year, perhaps…
“Presumably, then, the Halos see a spot for the former first-round pick on their MLB staff as either a starter or long reliever.”
“Then” adds nothing here. Goes without saying. Makes this sentence look clunky and amateurish.
Get over the grammar and participate in the conversation. Correcting a person’s grammar just pisses everyone off and detracts from the fun of this website
Thank you!
I disagree. Some of the most interesting discussions on this app have centered around grammar. Additionally, if people always strove to avoid irritating others on these boards, there’d be nothing to read in the comments.
Absolutely correct, your comment irritates me and here it is!
@sf2win – there’s absolutely nothing wrong with having a differing opinion but let’s talk about baseball. A comment solely to point out some language deficiency is just snarky. But I’ve gone too far with my comments at this point…
Go Giants! We’re going to need all the luck we can get!
Thank you for this crucial contribution to the article. Extremely helpful and relevant. Significantly improves the website as a whole. Great work! 10/10
I’m jus glad when someone knows the difference between “then” and “than”, since most appear unaware.
“Makes this sentence look clunky and amateurish.”
You do realize that is not a complete sentence. Your phrasing, then, makes that comment look clunky and amateurish.
I’m a writer and I didn’t even notice it. Because I don’t care. Sometimes writing is about having a voice that readers can communicate with. Such writing in a style that makes the reader feel like they’re listening to the author over a beer.
Long reliever who can start if needed.
So who is going to be the lefty specialist in the Angels pen? Dan Jennings?
I’m down with this. Angels now turned a shell of Ian Kinsler into a future closer, Ty Buttrey, and Chris Stratton. I suppose if Jerez could ever find the strike zone he will be effective. Rather have a long relief option in Stratton.
Poor roster management by the Giants
How is it “poor roster management”? There are only 40 spots for protecting guys, and guys run out of options. It’s a problem that all teams deal with on occasion. Please offer an alternative scenario wherein they avoid the roster issue.
It’s actually surprisingly progressive roster management by the Giants. I’m a bit surprised from the Angels point of view, as Stratton would have been given the DFA treatment shortly.
He may not have gotten to them on waivers, and they had a need to fill now.
Is there also a catcher to be named later going to the giants in this deal?
Saw Stratton being moved back when the Giants signed Pomeranz.
Another pitcher the Giants failed to develop.
This time not only a WASTED 1st round pick in 2012 (Pick #20)
But also SEVEN years of taking up space in their minor league system,
consuming the coaching and training resources to only be cast off
for a “throw in” due to roster maneuvers and the failure of team management
to early on identify this guy as being someone without a future in the Giants organization.
Aside from lhp and rhp can someone explain to this simple minded fan what the differences are? Stats don’t look that different from what I just saw
Not sure I understand your question, But as you probably know, RHPs have an advantage facing RHBs, and RHBs have an advantage facing LHPs. Go to Baseball reference, click on splits, (you have the option of a single season, or career. Career is usually the most illustrative) then look at platoon splits. That will give you how well a pitcher does against LHBs and RHBs. Same for hitters.
How does a player in the Giants organization make it to the majors? Answer: he runs out of options and gets traded.
the Post-Bochy era is going to look very different for the Giants. Next season there will be no excuse not to blow it up and rebuild