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Giants Designate Conor Gillaspie For Assignment

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Following last night’s game, the Giants designated third baseman Conor Gillaspie for assignment and optioned infielder Jae-gyun Hwang back to Triple-A Sacramento, as Alex Pavlovic of CSN Bay Area writes. In their place, the Giants have recalled infield/outfield prospect Ryder Jones from Sacramento and activated outfielder Jarrett Parker from the disabled list.

Gillaspie, 30, returned to the Giants organization for a second stint in 2016 and hit ..262/.307/.440 in 205 regular-season plate appearance before emerging as a postseason hero and cementing himself in Giants lore. With the Giants and Mets locked into a scoreless Madison Bumgarner vs. Noah Syndergaard pitching duel, it was Gillaspie who eventually broke the deadlock with a dramatic one-out, three-run homer in the ninth inning against New York closer Jeurys Familia. Gillaspie would later have a 4-for-4 showing in the decisive Game 4 of the NLDS, though the Giants nonetheless dropped that game and series to the eventual World Champion Cubs.

This season, however, has been entirely different for Gillaspie. He’s spent roughly two months of the year on the disabled list due to ongoing back spasms and back discomfort, and when he’s been healthy enough to take the field, he’s been unproductive in a limited role. Through 87 plate appearances, he’s hitting .163/.218/.288 with a pair of homers.

Notably, Pavlovic suggests that Jones will get the opportunity to establish himself as an everyday player in the wake of Wednesday’s late-night moves. The 23-year-old former second-round pick (2013) has enjoyed an excellent season in Triple-A, hitting .312/.396/.574 with 13 homers, 19 doubles and a pair of triples through 273 plate appearances. He didn’t get a lengthy look in his initial audition with the Giants earlier in 2017, but it seems that San Francisco decision-makers are prepared to see what they have on their hands in Jones as they seek to evaluate their needs for the 2018 campaign.

Jones also has experience in the outfield corners and at first base, so he could settle in as a versatile semi-regular, even if Christian Arroyo returns in 2018 and lays claim to the third base role. However, Pavlovic explains that Arroyo, like fellow prospects Austin Slater and Tyler Beede, may not make it back to the field at all in 2017 due to injury. Arroyo suffered a fractured hand when he was hit by a pitch in Triple-A earlier this month.

Evans On Need For Changes In 2018

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After watching a last-place team make just one move prior to the non-waiver deadline, Giants fans felt plenty of frustration, but GM Bobby Evans spoke to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle about the front office’s recognition that changes need to be made before the 2018 season commences. “How much we can accomplish between now and the beginning of 2018 remains to be seen,” said Evans. “…Some of that has to be us on alert for what opportunities exist. As we sit here today, we’ve got a lot of ideas where clubs see our guys.” The offseason is a likelier time for significant changes than the August waiver trade season, Evans indicated. Schulman writes that the Giants are lacking both power and defense in the outfield, though the presence of veterans Denard Span and Hunter Pence, both signed through 2018, adds another layer of complexity to the front office’s quest for improvement.

Johnny Cueto Has Mild Flexor Strain, No Ligament Damage

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9:15pm: Cueto will rest for a week before being reevaluated, per Pavlovic. The team expects him to return to the rotation this year, though there apparently will not be a specific timeline on that return until next week’s reassessment.

6:15pm: Pavolvic tweets that the further examination of Cueto’s injury revealed no damage to his ulnar collateral ligament. Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets that Cueto has a mild flexor strain.

8:45am: Giants righty Johnny Cueto had been working back from a blister problem when he took the hill for a rehab start last night. But he ended up leaving halfway through his scheduled outing with forearm tightness, as Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.

At this point, it’s too soon to know the prognosis. Cueto is set for a full examination by the team’s medical staff today, and it’s certainly possible that the problem isn’t indicative of a significant injury.

That said, forearm discomfort is often tied to other issues in and around the elbow joint, so the club will surely exercise caution with the veteran right-hander. Even in the best-case scenario, it seems likely that Cueto’s DL stint will be longer than had been anticipated as he and the club work to ensure that he’s at full health before pushing down on the gas pedal. And the longer he lays off, the more time that will be required to build him back up to the major league mound.

Just when Cueto will be back, then, isn’t at all clear at present. And that begins to raise new questions about the status of his opt-out decision at season’s end. Cueto will be deciding between a return to the free-agent market — this time with a possible qualifying offer weighing him with some draft compensation — and a return to San Francisco for at least four more years and a guaranteed $84MM. (Either way, Cueto will also be entitled to $4MM more on his signing bonus as well as a $5MM buyout of a $22MM club option for 2022.)

The injury illustrates just why it was always going to be tough for the Giants to trade Cueto this summer. Even assuming away the possibility of a major injury, the uncertainty of Cueto’s intentions left suitors unsure whether they’d be adding a rental or a major long-term commitment. As it stands, that’s just what San Francisco is wondering — though, fortunately, the team is still interested in employing the veteran (assuming he’s healthy) into the future.

Even before the blister and forearm issues arose, there were growing questions as to whether Cueto would stay or go. The 31-year-old had thrown 115 2/3 innings over 19 starts on the year before hitting the DL, but sports an uncharacteristic 4.59 ERA. He does carry a fairly typical 8.0 K/9 and a 10.6% swinging-strike rate that’s higher than his career average. And he has not sported

While there were no major red flags prior to Cueto’s DL stint, there were signs of some decline. He has permitted more hard contact than ever while coughing up 1.48 homers per nine. His groundball rate has fallen to below forty percent after topping fifty last year, he has walked more than three batters per nine (his highest rate since 2009), and he’s averaging just under 92 mph with his fastball for the first time in his career.

Midday Market Chatter: Nats, Dodgers, Lynn, Panik

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The Nationals have been linked to a variety of relievers even after adding two veterans earlier this month, and Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post tweets that the pursuit continues in earnest today. While it seems a variety of hurlers could be of interest, adding a pitcher capable of taking on closing duties remains a “priority,” per the report. Washington has been connected to Brandon Kintzler of the Twins today, along with a long list of other pitchers.

Here’s some more midday chatter as the non-waiver deadline looms:

  • Some Dodgers front office folks would like to see the club come away with a “wipeout left-handed reliever” today, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney tweets. That has been noted as a strong priority over recent weeks, of course, though the club has also been said to be eyeing top-tier starting pitching as well. At this point, it would seem, Zach Britton of the Orioles is the likeliest target among lefty pen pieces, though it’s still unclear whether he’ll end up being moved.
  • There’s industry chatter linking the Indians to Cardinals righty Lance Lynn, Olney tweets — a connection that was made a few days ago as well. And Cleveland also has some interest in discussing some of the excess young outfielders on the St. Louis roster, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch adds on Twitter. The Cards are said to be willing to listen on some such position players — in particular, Tommy Pham and Randal Grichuk. It’s not immediately clear, though, whether the sides are engaged in earnest today.
  • The Angels have been rumored to be looking at second basemen of late, and recently spoke with the Giants about Joe Panik, per Olney (via Twitter). But those talks evidently did not materialize into anything the sides found worthy of further pursuit, and there’s no indication that Panik is in play today.
  • Both the Cubs and Red Sox appear to have made their moves at this point, per reports from Olney (via Twitter) and Sean McAdam of the Boston Sports Journal (Twitter link). Chicago is, however, still keeping an eye out for controllable pitching depth, while Boston will also “monitor [the] market” up until the deadline.

Giants Sign Casey Kelly To Minor-League Deal

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  • The Giants have signed 27-year-old righty Casey Kelly to a minor-league deal and assigned him to Triple-A Sacramento, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area tweets. Kelly, a former first-round pick of the Red Sox, headed to the Padres with Anthony Rizzo in a 2010 trade for Adrian Gonzalez, then to the Padres five years later in a deal involving Christian Bethancourt. He signed with the Cubs last winter and posted a 4.65 ERA, 6.5 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 in 12 outings, including 11 starts, for Triple-A Iowa before being released last week. He’s struggled in brief big-league opportunities spanning three seasons with the Padres and Braves.

Tyler Beede Likely To Miss Rest Of Season

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  • Top Giants pitching prospect Tyler Beede will likely miss the rest of the season with a groin strain, as Alex Pavlovic of CSNBayArea.com notes. Beede is expected to miss four weeks, taking him to around the end of the minor-league season. The injury could wind up costing him a chance at a big-league call-up once rosters expand in September as well. He could, however, pitch in the Arizona Fall League. After a strong season with Double-A Richmond in 2016, the former first-round pick struggled in Triple-A Sacramento in 2017, posting a 4.79 ERA, 6.9 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 over 109 innings.

Giants May Hold Onto Strickland Due To Saturated Relief Market

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Giants Shopping Denard Span

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The Giants are shopping center fielder Denard Span, tweets ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick, but they’ve yet to drum up a market for the 33-year-old veteran.

Span is in the second season of a three-year, $31MM contract with the Giants, though the backloaded nature of the contract makes the notion of moving him especially tricky. Span’s deal came with just a $3MM salary in its first year, so he’s owed $19.2MM through the completion of the 2018 campaign (including the buyout of a 2019 mutual option and one more payment on a partially deferred signing bonus, per Cot’s).

Span remains a highly productive bat, hitting .286/.337/.451 with seven homers, 22 doubles and four triples despite playing his home games in perhaps baseball’s most pitcher-friendly venue — AT&T Park. It’s worth noting, though, that nearly all of his damage has been done against right-handed pitching (.234/.290/.281 vs. lefties; .299/.350/.496 vs. righties). Beyond that, the once-premium center field defender has seen his defensive ratings slip from anywhere to below average (per Ultimate Zone Rating) to disastrous (per Defensive Runs Saved).

Unfortunately for the Giants, there’s no shortage of outfield bats available. While Span is still playing center field, his sub-par performance there could lead opposing teams to view him as more of a corner option. If that’s the case, he joins a market that’s flooded with the likes of Jay Bruce, Curtis Granderson, Melky Cabrera, Seth Smith, Matt Joyce, Rajai Davis, Howie Kendrick, Jose Bautista and perhaps Carlos Gomez (assuming the Marlins do not reverse course and make any of their outfielders available). That’s a fair bit of options when few contending clubs are seeking outfield help in the first place, and Span is owed more money than anyone on that list.

Jeff Samardzija Unlikely To Waive No-Trade Clause

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Jeff Samardzija’s name has come up frequently in recent trade rumors, but the 32-year-old right-hander’s five-year, $90MM contract allows him to block trades to all but eight teams. Moreover, Samardzija tells Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News that if approached by the Giants about a trade to one of the teams over which he has veto power, he wouldn’t be interested in waiving the clause.

“I love being here,” said Samardzija shortly after praising the Giants’ core players and suggesting that the team fully believes it can turn the tide next season. Samardzija smiled yesterday when telling Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle that he “[doesn’t] remember” the eight teams to which he can be traded without his approval (Twitter link), but Baggarly now reports the full list in a separate column.

According to Baggarly, Samardzija can be traded to the Red Sox, Cubs, Mets, Yankees, Angels, Dodgers, Athletics and Nationals without his consent. All other teams — including the Astros, who have been the team most frequently connected to Samardzija on the rumor circuit — require Samardzija’s consent, and it doesn’t sound like he’s interested in green-lighting any proposals.

Samardzija is owed $18MM annually and has struggled in the estimation of traditional metrics this season. He’s sporting a 5-11 record with a 4.85 ERA, but most other statistical means of evaluation are rather bullish on the righty. He’s averaging 9.7 K/9 against 1.1 BB/9, both of which would be the best marks of his career, and leading the Majors in K/BB ratio. His 43.3 percent ground-ball rate is only a tick below average, and he’s inducing more swings at pitches out of the strike zone than he ever has before. Samardzija’s fastball velocity has also held strong at an average of just over 94 mph, and he’s averaging nearly 6 2/3 innings per start. Metrics like FIP (3.49), xFIP (3.13) and SIERA (3.28 prior to today’s strong outing) all view him much more favorably than earned run average.

Samardzija has struggled with men on base, in part due to the fact that he’s one of many pitchers throughout the league that has seen his HR/9 rate and HR/FB ratio spike as balls are leaving the yard at a higher rate than ever before in MLB history. And while his durability and K/BB numbers are impressive, some teams will no doubt express some skepticism that Samardzija would be able to better keep the ball in the yard by vacating the spacious AT&T Park as his home stadium. The remaining money on his contract also figures to be a concern to come clubs, as he represents a fairly sizable commitment to those that are near the luxury tax threshold.

All of that sounds to be mostly a moot point anyhow. Among the teams to which Samardzija can be moved, the Red Sox don’t seem likely to pursue a starter, while the Mets and A’s aren’t contending. The Angels are a fringe contender at best and have luxury tax concerns, while the Nationals are said to be more focused on relievers and may shy away from the money remaining on his deal. It’s at least possible that one of the other teams listed shows some interest, but the Yankees are presently focused on Sonny Gray, while the Cubs have already added Jose Quintana and the Dodgers have been most heavily linked to Yu Darvish (to say nothing of the longstanding Dodgers/Giants division rivalry).

Red Sox Acquire Eduardo Nunez

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The Red Sox made their first addition of the summer on Tuesday night, acquiring infielder Eduardo Nunez from the Giants in exchange for minor league right-handers Shaun Anderson and Gregory Santos. Both teams have announced the deal. Word of the swap first leaked out after Nunez was shown leaving the Giants’ dugout to a series of hugs from his teammates on tonight’s broadcast (video link via Alex Pavlovic of CSN Bay Area).

Eduardo Nunez | Lance Iversen-USA TODAY Sports

Third base has been a clear area of need for the Red Sox this season, as Pablo Sandoval was finally released midway through the third season of his five-year contract and Brock Holt has been plagued by injuries throughout the year. Boston dealt Travis Shaw to the Brewers this offseason and has been relying on a platoon of light-hitting Deven Marrero and Tzu-Wei Lin at the hot corner in recent weeks, and Boston third basemen entered play tonight hitting a collective .226/.278/.317.

Of course, the third base outlook in Boston changed radically just this week when the team decided to call upon top prospect Rafael Devers to get his first taste of the Majors. Devers ranks as one of the game’s five or six best prospects and has torn through minor league pitching at a .311/.377/.578 pace thus far in 2017. However, Devers is also just 20 years old and has scarcely played in Triple-A, so the Sox may yet feel that he needs more development in the minors before he can be relied upon to man the hot corner in a pennant race.

If Devers does ultimately prove to be capable of handling the spot, Nunez’s defensive versatility will still carry plenty of value for the Red Sox down the stretch. Nunez can provide depth both at shortstop and second base, and he has a bit of experience in the corner outfield as well. That flexibility would help to keep a number of Boston regulars fresh in the season’s final months, though the team’s exact plans with respect to Nunez and Devers aren’t yet clear. Anything from a platoon arrangement to a return trip to Triple-A Pawtucket could reasonably be on the table, though it’s certainly worth noting that the Red Sox’ press release announcing the move labeled Nunez as a “utility player” rather than strictly referencing him as a third baseman.

The 30-year-old Nunez hasn’t shown the power he displayed when he smacked a career-high 16 home runs last season — the extra time in the pitcher-friendly AT&T Park certainly can’t help his cause in that regard — but he’s been a generally solid offensive player. He’s hitting .307/.331/.413 through 315 plate appearances with San Francisco and has knocked four homers and 20 doubles to go along with a 17-for-22 mark in stolen base attempts. He’s also an extremely tough strikeout (9.1 percent) and, as Tim Britton of the Providence Journal points out (via Twitter), Nunez’s acquisition gives the Red Sox the three players with Major League Baseball’s lowest strikeout rates (Mookie Betts, Nunez and Dustin Pedroia).

Nunez is earning $4.2MM this year (with about $1.56MM of that sum remaining) and will hit the open market as a free agent for the first time this winter. He’s a pure rental for the Sox, but with Devers already in the Majors and widely believed to be the team’s third baseman of the future, Boston never seemed likely to pay the higher price for any third base options that are controllable beyond the current season.

The 22-year-old Anderson was Boston’s third-round selection in last year’s draft and currently ranks 18th among Red Sox prospects, per MLB.com’s newly updated top 30 list. The 22-year-old worked as a reliever at the University of Florida, though MLB.com’s Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo note in their report that they feel he has enough pitches to make it as a starter. The Red Sox have been trying him in that role, as he’s worked to a 3.99 ERA with 7.4 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9 with a 42.4 percent ground-ball rate in Class-A Advanced this season.

Santos is just 17 years of age and is currently in his second season with Boston’s affiliate in the Dominican Summer League. Through 30 innings this season he has a 0.90 ERA with a 24-to-15 K/BB ratio and a comically high 82.1 percent ground-ball rate. He posted a 60.6 percent grounder rate in 44 1/3 innings at the same level last season.

FOX’s Ken Rosenthal first reported that Nunez was going to Boston (on Twitter). USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweeted that Nunez would net the Giants a pair of minor league pitchers. The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier reported that Anderson and Santos were the two prospects in the deal (Twitter link).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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