The Giants have acquired infielder Donovan Walton from the Mariners in exchange for pitching prospect Prelander Berroa, according to announcements from both teams. San Francisco has designated first baseman Mike Ford for assignment to clear space on the 40-man roster.
Walton, 28 later this month, has appeared in the majors in each of the past four seasons. He’s tallied just 102 cumulative plate appearances across 37 games, though, and his only MLB outing this year saw him enter as a pinch-runner. A left-handed hitter, Walton has posted a modest .196/.260/.315 showing in the majors.
The Oklahoma State product has a more robust body of work in the minors, where he’s a .287/.375/.427 hitter in parts of six seasons. That includes a .302/.391/.518 line in just shy of 400 trips to the plate at Triple-A, and Walton’s hitting .294/.368/.510 through 12 contests there this season. Perhaps of greatest import to the Giants, he’s a versatile defender who has a ton of professional experience in the middle infield. He figures to bounce around the diamond in a utility capacity for a Giants team that has dealt with injuries to both Evan Longoria and Tommy La Stella (although Longoria is making his season debut today). Walton is in his final minor league option year, meaning the Giants can shuttle him between San Francisco and Triple-A Sacramento for the remainder of the season if he sticks on the 40-man roster.
Walton, somewhat ironically, becomes the third infielder the Giants have acquired from Seattle in as many weeks. San Francisco also picked up Kevin Padlo on April 26 and acquired Ford on April 30. Both those deals were for cash considerations, but the M’s recoup a minor league arm in exchange for Walton.
Berroa, a 22-year-old righty, originally signed with the Twins as an amateur out of the Dominican Republic. San Francisco acquired him at the 2019 trade deadline, and he’s spent the past few seasons in the lower levels of the farm system. Baseball America named Berroa the #29 prospect in the Giants’ system over the offseason, writing that he owns a mid-upper 90s fastball and a solid slider. The outlet suggested Berroa’s control is a work of progress but that he has a chance to develop into a back-of-the-rotation starter.
Over four appearances with High-A Eugene this season, Berroa has worked 13 1/3 innings of one-run ball. He has 16 punchouts and six walks, a continuation of the high-strikeout, high-walk ways he’s shown throughout his young career. Berroa will be eligible for the Rule 5 draft this winter if he’s not added to the Mariners’ 40-man roster.
Ford, meanwhile, suited up in just one game in black and orange. He collected a single in four plate appearances and has a .271/.417/.417 line over 60 Triple-A plate appearances this season. It’s the second time this year that Ford has been designated for assignment, as a DFA preceded the aforementioned trade from Seattle to San Francisco. The Giants will have a week to trade the 29-year-old or try to run him through outright waivers.
I’d have thought they could’ve gotten more for Berroa who was lights out in Eugene.
But Walton is another multi position, high OBP guy that Farhan loves.
Agree. Berroa seems like a pretty good prospect.
No one knows if there was a winner in this trade, and if there was, who won it. Berroa may, or may not, develop the control he now lacks. And Walton’s MLB numbers are too small a sample to read anything into them. Obviously FZ sees something in Walton that he likes.
Dang, first Jaylin Davis and now Prelander Berroa! The Sam Dyson trade is slowly being unravelled. I really wanted to keep both players, but especially Prelander because his name is so freaking cool!
Prelander sounds like an SUV.
Detroit should pick up Ford.
No they still have General Motors
i’m surprised they trade Berroa for what seems like a rather underwhelming player… Farhan knows best i guess
walton and berroa both seem a little underrated and undervalued potentially, we will see how they develop but this is a rather intriguing one for one swap
The Mariners free up a 40 man spot. I wonder if they have another trade lined up.
They’ll need to activate Lewis relatively soon.
You know what Ford stands for?
Fix it again tony.
Is that the Italian Ford?
Never hear that before…
Only heard: Fixed or Repaired Daily; or Found on Road Dead.
Flimsy Old Rebuilt Dodge
I think @HighestIQ was attempting a joke Clipper. Fiat is an acronym for “fix it again Tony”.
More King of the Hill references are needed on this website.
Ah, knew it was an attempt at a joke with Ford’s name, but never heard the Fiat one, probably because, well, it’s a Fiat.
So, thanks tad, for the clue-in because obviously I am not smart enough to work the acronym out of his sentence! Lol…
Free agent
Or
Released
Daily
All I can Af-Ford
Are scouts not traveling cause it seems like all the trades are between west coast teams, at least a large majority of them
They’re traveling, but they get a better look at players/prospects within the same spring league, so it isn’t surprising to see Seattle, for example, make trades with the Giants, Padres, and Reds–all of whom are in the Cactus League.
Upmost respect for Ford but I think it’s time to put that ivy league degree to use.
One does wonder if perhaps he were in shape what his capabilities could be. Perhaps no difference at all, but possibly he could field & hit a bit better. He’s obviously got the bat.
Ford is a Ken Phelps AAAA player
Babe Ford
This Ford is becoming an Edsel
I think Ford has made more money during DFA limbo than he has on the active roster this season.
They probably thought they might lose prelander in the rule 5, so might as well get something for him.
good train of thought that likely happened in reverse, SF has a need for someone who can hit and zaidi likes the high obp versatile guys, i bet seattle convinced them he was a 50/50 to go in the rule 5 so might as well send him packing early
And Walton hits left-handed. (I think LaStella is on his way out.)
La Stella is under contract through next season, and his trade value couldn’t be lower. If he goes anywhere it’s on outright waivers. I doubt anyone would claim him.
I wonder if the Giants might be offering to pay a significant amount of what La Stella is owed right now (in order to clear his spot on the roster) as opposed to just letting him go for free.
If so, I think he’s a legitimate trade piece, even as we speak.