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Giants Sign Travis Ishikawa To Minor League Deal

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The Giants are in agreement with first baseman/outfielder Travis Ishikawa on a minor league contract, as Damian Trujillo of NBC Bay Area first reported (on Twitter). Giants GM Bobby Evans confirmed the news to reporters last night, tweets Alex Pavlovic of CSN Bay Area, citing a need for  depth at the position and stating that Ishikawa will report to Triple-A Sacramento as soon as possible.

The 32-year-old Ishikawa broke into the Majors with the Giants back in 2006 and has become somewhat of a folk hero among the Giants faithful due to his Herculean performance in the 2014 NLCS against the Cardinals, which culminated in a walk-off three-run homer to send the Giants to their third World Series in five years. Ishikawa took home a pair of rings with San Francisco (2010, 2014) and will now re-join the organization that originally drafted him (21st round, 2002) for a third stint.

Ishikawa began the 2016 season on a minors pact with the White Sox but struggled with Chicago’s Triple-A affiliate, batting a mere .201/.277/.344 in 175 trips to the plate. The Sox cut him loose in late May, and he’ll now hope for better results and a return to the Majors with the Giants. The vast majority of Ishikawa’s Major League experience has come with San Francisco, but he’s also appeared with the Pirates, Brewers and, ever so briefly, with the Orioles (18 plate appearances) and Yankees (two PAs) as well. He’s a career .255/.321/.391 batter in 1050 Major League PAs and has also authored a .269/.355/.467 slash line in 1376 career plate appearances at the Triple-A level.

Buster Posey Dealing With Thumb Issue

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  • Superstar Giants catcher Buster Posey is dealing with an irritate nerve in his right thumb, but he suggests it’s an injury that can be managed (video link via KNBR). Posey, 29, is hitting well below his career rate over his first 212 plate appearances, though he’s still humming along at a productive /.257/.316/.450 clip.

Schulman: Giants Could Make Smaller Trade, Not "Blockbuster"

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  • The Giants could trade “for a complementary player,” Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle opines (Twitter link), but he doesn’t think the club will swing a major deal at this time of the year.  With Hunter Pence gone for at least two months following hamstring surgery, the Giants have already been discussing trade targets, though they have a number of outfield options already on the roster.
  • Rangers GM Jon Daniels talks to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News about the 2006 draft, which was Daniels’ first in charge of the Texas front office.  While the Rangers found some good talent in that draft class, their first-round pick was rather a notable miss.  Daniels said his team was eyeing Tim Lincecum with the 12th overall selection but the Rangers were surprised when the Giants drafted Lincecum tenth overall.  Texas instead took high school lefty Kasey Kiker, who never made it higher than Double-A and has been out of pro ball since 2012.

Hunter Pence To Undergo Surgery For Hamstring Tear

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TODAY: Pence’s surgery has been scheduled for Thursday, the Giants told reporters (including Alex Pavlovic).

FRIDAY: Giants outfielder Hunter Pence is expected to require surgery for a fully torn hamstring, Alex Pavlovic of CSNBayArea.com was among those to report. He’ll likely miss at least two months after undergoing the procedure, but the veteran tells Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle that it may be longer (Twitter links).

For now, the expectation is that the team will look to internal options to step in with Pence (and also Angel Pagan) sidelined. But manager Bruce Bochy says that he’s already had discussions with GM Bobby Evans about possible trade targets.

The diagnosis does seem to suggest that San Francisco will be shopping for a corner outfielder. Some might have suggested that was already a reasonable position to pursue an upgrade. And with Pence likely out until after the trade deadline, the club may not have the luxury of just waiting to see how he bounces back.

Pence is among the organization’s best and most respected players, and the loss will tell regardless of what the team can do to replace his production. Barring a major trade, though, there’s little chance that San Francisco will find anything close to what Pence provides from its fill-ins. Over his 208 plate appearances on the year, the 33-year-old owns a .298/.375/.486 batting line with seven home runs.

Fortunately, the Giants do have several well-regarded young players on hand to fill in. Mac Williamson and Jarrett Parker are both active and figure to get a legitimate opportunity at the major league level for the first time after showing real promise in the upper minors. The club can also turn to utilityman Kelby Tomlinson and utilize first baseman Brandon Belt in the corner outfield.

Despite those options, it will be interesting to watch what the Giants aim to accomplish in the summer trade market. Several corner outfielders appeared in the first iteration of MLBTR’s Top 10 Trade Candidates series, including Jay Bruce of the Reds and Ryan Braun of the Brewers. Any number of other players could join them over the months to come, with San Francisco’s options likely ranging from platoon pieces to long-term assets.

Cafardo: Giants Would Have Interest In Jose Bautista

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  • The 30-27 Blue Jays are in the thick of the playoff race, but if they fall out of it, right fielder Jose Bautista and first baseman/designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion (both pending free agents) are prime trade candidates. The Cardinals, Cubs and Hunter Pence-less Giants would all have interest in Bautista, according to Cafardo.

    [SOURCE LINK]

Giants Have Discussed Pursuing Andrew Miller

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With the Aug. 1 trade deadline drawing closer, the first-place Giants could make a major acquisition over the next couple months as they seek their fourth World Series title since 2010. One potential trade target they’ve discussed internally is Yankees left-handed reliever Andrew Miller, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reports (Twitter link). Rosenthal wonders if San Francisco would be willing to part with its best pitching prospect, 23-year-old right-hander Tyler Beede, in order to land Miller.

Even if the Giants do pursue Miller, there’s obviously no guarantee the Yankees will deal the 31-year-old. Miller, after all, is still under their control at a reasonable $9MM per year through 2018, so they could keep him if they plan to contend in the near term. Contention could be out of the question this season, though, given that the Yankees haven’t consistently shown signs of life during their 25-29 start. They’re already seven games behind American League East-leading Boston and six games out of a Wild Card spot, and they lost first baseman Mark Teixeira on Friday to what could be a season-ending knee injury.

If the Yankees sell Miller, there’s a chance they’ll lose both him and fellow lights-out lefty Aroldis Chapman by the end of the year. Chapman, also a summer trade candidate, is slated to hit free agency after the season. That would bring a quick end to the Yankees’ much-ballyhooed Chapman-Miller-Dellin Betances trio and leave them with just one of the three going forward.

For the 35-22 Giants, who hold the second-best record in baseball, adding Miller would further strengthen a bullpen that already has a handful of impressive late-game options – even without the injured Sergio Romo. Giants relievers entered Saturday with a below-average 4.01 ERA and a replacement-level fWAR (0.0), good for the fourth-worst mark in the league, but closer Santiago Casilla (a pending free agent), Hunter Strickland, Cory Gearrin and Derek Law have performed well. Miller is vastly superior to each of them, though, and would offer variety as a southpaw.

Handedness aside, Miller has racked up videogamelike strikeout totals (16.62 per nine innings) while showing excellent control (1.25 BB/9), generating grounders 50 percent of the time and pitching to a 1.25 ERA over 21 2/3 innings this year. Dating back to 2012, his breakout season in relief with the Red Sox, Miller has put up a 2.28 ERA, 14.21 K/9, 3.20 BB/9 and 48.1 percent grounder rate in 216 2/3 frames. The 6-foot-7, 210-pounder has added to his value by showing the ability to dominate as either a closer or setup man.

There are likely to be many suitors for Miller if the Yankees make him available, so the Bombers’ asking price for him should be high. Whether the Giants are willing to move Beede for Miller is unknown – as is whether Beede would even appeal to New York – but it’s fair to say the reliever will command a quality return if the Yanks shop him.

Pitcher Notes: Pomeranz, M’s, Giants, Royals, Tigers

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The Padres traded James Shields on Saturday, but they aren’t as willing to move their best starter, southpaw Drew Pomeranz, reports Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune (Twitter link). The club would need to be “overwhelmed” to deal the 27-year-old, according to Lin. Pomeranz currently ranks eighth among qualified starters in both ERA (2.22) and strikeouts per nine innings (10.66), and he’s playing this season on a meager $1.35MM salary. Thus, it would likely to take a significant haul to land him and his two-plus remaining years of team control.

More on a few other pitchers:

  • The Mariners promoted their top pitching prospect, Double-A reliever Edwin Diaz, and optioned fellow reliever Cody Martin to Triple-A Tacoma to make room, per a team announcement. Diaz, 22, has posted a sterling 2.21 ERA, 11.95 K/9 and 1.55 BB/9 in 40 2/3 innings this year. Most of those numbers came as a starter, but the Mariners decided to move Diaz to the bullpen early last month because they feel his ceiling as a reliever is higher. Diaz has a high-90s fastball out of the ’pen and has dominated in relief this season, writes The Seattle Times’ Ryan Divish. He’ll have a chance to earn a spot with the Mariners in the wake of veteran Joel Peralta’s designation for assignment earlier this week.
  • Before lefty Brian Duensing agreed to a minor league deal with the Orioles last month, the Giants and Royals also pushed for his services, he told Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (Twitter link). Duensing became a free agent when he opted out of his contract with Kansas City in mid-May; as evidenced by Kansas City’s desire to re-sign Duensing, the defending World Series champions were obviously sorry to see him go.
  • The Tigers’ Shane Greene made three of his four early season appearances as a starter before landing on the disabled list April 24 with a blister on his throwing hand. The right-hander is healthy again, but he will now come out of the bullpen, manager Brad Ausmus said (via Brendan Savage of MLive.com). “He’ll work out of the pen, probably sixth-seventh innings, right around there,” Ausmus stated. “Maybe eighth depending on who needs rest, who’s coming up, etc. He can work a couple innings. Availability will come into play but he can definitely work a couple of innings.” Prior to his injury, Greene put up a 6.28 ERA, 6.91 K/9 and 5.65 BB/9 in 14 1/3 innings. He worked almost exclusively as a starter last season (16 of 18 appearances), though his run prevention was even worse (6.88 ERA).

Giants Won't Overpay For Pence Replacement

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  • With the news that Hunter Pence will miss two months or more, the Giants are facing some uncertainty in the corner outfield. While the organization sees some “attractive options externally,” GM Bobby Evans tells Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter), it has no intentions of plunking down a high price for a temporary fill-in (let alone a long-term piece).

Opt-Outs: Joe Thatcher, Hak-Ju Lee

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June 1 serves as a common date for opt-out clauses in minor league contracts, and as such, there figure to be a few players on the verge of free agency. It’s already been reported that Travis Snider won’t opt out of his deal with the Royals, and we’ll keep track of the rest of the day’s opt-out decisions in this post…

  • Veteran lefty Joe Thatcher has exercised the opt-out clause in his minor league deal with the Dodgers, tweets SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo. The Dodgers have until Saturday to add him to the big league roster or he’ll be a free agent. Thatcher, 34, spent the 2015 season with the Astros and totaled 22 2/3 innings of 3.18 ERA ball with a 26-to-12 K/BB ratio. Thatcher didn’t display his typical excellence against lefties, yielding a .241/.362/.321 batting line to same-handed opponents, but he’s an overall line of .232/.298/.348 to lefty batters in his big league career. He has a 3.86 ERA with a 20-to-5 K/BB ratio in 14 innings at the Triple-A level thus far in 2016 and could get a look elsewhere as a situational lefty if the Dodgers elect not to add him to the big league bullpen.
  • Shortstop Hak-Ju Lee has also exercised a June 1 opt-out in his minors deal with the Giants, MLBTR has learned (Twitter link). Lee, a former Top 100 prospect with the Cubs and Rays, is hitting .263/.343/.378 with three homers and four steals in 45 games/178 plate appearances with Triple-A Sacramento this season. San Francisco has 72 hours to add him to the active roster. The 25-year-old has played shortstop almost exclusively throughout his career but has logged a pair of games at third base this season. Lee’s career was slowed by a collision at second base in 2013 that left him with multiple torn ligaments in his left knee, and he hasn’t topped 100 games in a season since 2012 (though he’s healthy and on pace to do so in 2016). Baseball America wrote prior to the 2015 season that Lee possessed above-average range, a plus throwing arm and soft hands at shortstop.

Giants Place Hunter Pence On Disabled List

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The Giants have placed right fielder Hunter Pence on the disabled list with a strained right hamstring, manager Bruce Bochy told reporters prior to today’s game (via Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle). Pence missed about a week late last month due to a balky hamstring but returned to the lineup over the weekend. However, he came up lame in an attempt to run out a grounder last night and was unable to even finish running to first base. He underwent an MRI this morning, after which Bochy told the media: “Unfortunately, he did a pretty good job on it. That’s a shame.” In other words, Schulman notes, Pence is dealing with a severe strain, which almost certainly rules out a speedy return to the lineup. Surgery has not yet been discussed, though Pence’s MRI still needs to be reviewed by team physician Kenneth Akizuki.

For the time being, the Giants have recalled outfielder Mac Williamson to take Pence’s place on the roster. The 25-year-old Williamson is currently sporting a fairly robust .287/.316/.503 batting line with Triple-A Sacramento, though it’s unreasonable to ask him to fill Pence’s shoes from a production standpoint at the big league level. Pence is currently batting .298/.375/.486 with seven homers on the season, but he’ll now join the Giants’ other corner outfielder, Angel Pagan, on the disabled list with a similar injury. That leaves the NL-West-leading Giants with an outfield mix of Denard Span, Gregor Blanco and the inexperienced duo of Williamson and Jarrett Parker. Brandon Belt could potentially see some time in left field as well; he’s logged just one inning there this season but played 96 innings out there in 2015 and has 355 big league innings at the position.

While there’s no definitive timetable on Pence’s absence, a prolonged stint on the disabled list would invite trade speculation. Pagan is said to be coming along nicely in his rehab and could return to the club sometime next week, Schulman notes, which could lessen the immediate need for some outfield help. However, Pagan doesn’t provide the same offensive skill set, despite a solid .275/.338/.383 batting line at the time of his most recent injury, and he’s also been very prone to injury over the past four seasons with San Francisco. It’s early in the summer still, but MLBTR’s Jeff Todd did recently compile a list of 10 of the game’s likeliest trade candidates while also mentioning several others to monitor as the deadline approaches.

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