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A’s Acquire Sean Newcomb From Giants

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The Athletics have acquired veteran left-hander Sean Newcomb from the Giants in exchange for minor league outfielder Trenton Brooks, per the teams’ transaction logs at MLB.com. It’s a rare post-deadline trade that sees a player going each way (as opposed to the more common cash trades in August) and an even rarer trade between the two Bay Area clubs. Both Newcomb and Brooks were eligible to be traded by virtue of the fact that they have not appeared on a 40-man roster or Major League injured list in 2023.

[Related: How to Acquire Players After the Trade Deadline]

Newcomb, 30, signed a minor league deal with the Giants over the winter and has primarily worked out of the bullpen in their system, pitching to a 3.16 ERA in 31 1/3 innings with Triple-A Sacramento. The command issues that have long plagued Newcomb persist (15.3% walk rate in Triple-A), but he’s fanned an impressive 30.5% of his opponents and has clearly changed up his repertoire a bit, based on a career-high 59.4% ground-ball rate. The left-hander posted a combined 35.2% grounder rate in 73 2/3 innings from 2020-22 — his most recent MLB work.

Early in his career, Newcomb looked like a budding mainstay on the Braves’ roster. Acquired from the Angels in the trade that sent Andrelton Simmons to Anaheim, Newcomb posted a 3.87 ERA and 23% strikeout rate through his first 332 1/3 big league innings — splitting his appearances roughly evenly between the rotation (2017-18) and bullpen (2019).

The 2020 season was a disaster for the former first-round pick, however, as he was tagged for 17 earned runs in just 13 2/3 innings spread across four starts. Newcomb walked 18% of his opponents the following year while pitching 32 1/3 innings out of the bullpen, and he yielded 27 runs in 27 2/3 innings between the Braves and Cubs last year.

Overall, Newcomb has a 4.52 ERA in 406 big league innings, but the vast majority of that success came upwards of five years ago at this point. He can be a free agent at season’s end if he’s not added to the big league roster, so it stands to reason that the A’s wouldn’t have given up a minor league player if he weren’t going to be selected to the Majors sometime soon. In the event that Newcomb can reestablish himself as a viable big league arm — presumably out of the bullpen, given his ’23 usage — the A’s would be able to control him through the end of the 2025 season via arbitration.

Brooks, 28, is in his first season with Oakland after spending the prior seven season in Cleveland’s system. The former 17th-round pick signed a minor league deal with the A’s after reaching minor league free agency, and he’s turned in a stout .299/.405/.529 output (125 wRC+) in 412 plate appearances in Triple-A this year. He’s turned in career-best marks in home runs (16) doubles (29) and stolen bases (five) — all while walking at a career-high (in a full season) 13.8% mark against just a 14.6% strikeout rate.

Defensively, Brooks has rotated between first base (816 innings), left field (1460 innings) and right field (1469 innings) throughout his professional career. He’s played all three spots in 2023, though this year’s usage skews more toward left field. He’ll give the Giants a left-handed-hitting corner option at a time when outfield options Mike Yastrzemski, AJ Pollock, Mitch Haniger and Mark Mathias are all on the injured list.

Giants Outright Luis González

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Luis González cleared waivers this afternoon, and the Giants have sent him outright to Triple-A Sacramento. Because he has less than three years of MLB service time and has not been outrighted previously in his career, he cannot refuse the assignment.

González has been in the Giants organization since August 2021, when he was claimed off release waivers from the White Sox. He spent the rest of the season on the injured list with shoulder issues, making his debut in the Giants system the following spring. He played 11 games at Triple-A, slashing .283/.389/.500 before earning the call to the big league level. The outfielder bounced back and forth between Triple-A and the majors for the rest of the year, ultimately playing 98 games for San Francisco. He looked like a capable bench player if not much else, posting a 95 wRC+, swiping ten bases, and playing below-average defense in the outfield corners.

Unfortunately, González missed the first half of the 2023 season recovering from back surgery, and he has struggled at the plate since his return. In 14 games with Triple-A Sacramento, he’s batting .231 with no home runs and a 67 wRC+. His 13.1% walk rate and 18% strikeout rate are impressive, but he has had no power to speak of. In his first two seasons at Triple-A, he hit 13 home runs across 60 games.

Last Monday, González was designated for assignment amid a flurry of roster moves. Anthony DeSclafani was moved to the 60-day IL, and with two newly open spots on the 40-man roster, the Giants selected the contracts of Johan Camargo and Wade Meckler from Triple-A.

While González can’t decline the outright assignment, this is his seventh season logging at least some minor league action. As a result, he’d be eligible for minor league free agency next offseason if the Giants don’t select him back onto the 40-man roster before then.

Giants, Yoshi Tsutsugo Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Giants have reached agreement on a minor league pact with first baseman Yoshi Tsutsugo, reports Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter link). The 31-year-old is looking to get back to the big leagues for a fourth consecutive season.

Tsutsugo began this season on a minor league contract with the Rangers. He spent a couple months in Triple-A, hitting .249/.380/.432 in 280 plate appearances. Tsutsugo opted out of that deal in late June but didn’t immediately land another affiliated opportunity.

Instead, he made the jump to the Atlantic League. Tsutsugo signed with the Staten Island FerryHawks but very quickly hit his way back out of independent ball. The left-handed hitter connected on seven home runs in 12 games, posting an overall .359/.479/.949 batting line in 48 trips. That excellent showing earns him another crack at Pacific Coast League pitching with the Giants’ top affiliate in Sacramento.

Tsutsugo has suited up for three MLB clubs since heading over from Japan during the 2019-20 offseason. He has struggled for the bulk of that time. Tsutsugo hit .187/.292/.336 in 77 games with the Rays, who had originally signed him to a two-year contract. Tampa Bay released him in the second season of that deal. He briefly caught on with the Dodgers before signing with the Pirates for the end of 2021. Tsutsugo had the best stretch of his career in Pittsburgh, hitting .268/.347/.535 in 43 games to close out that season.

The rebuilding Bucs re-signed him on a $4MM free agent deal that offseason. His production cratered, however, as he hit .171/.249/.229 through 50 contests before being released in August. Tsutsugo hasn’t returned to the big leagues since then, as successive minor league deals with the Blue Jays and Texas didn’t result in a call.

San Francisco has left-handed hitting LaMonte Wade Jr. and Joc Pederson as the primary first base/DH tandem. The offense has floundered lately, with each of Wade and Peterson putting up well below-average numbers since the All-Star Break (although the former has turned things around a bit in August after a dismal July).

Tsutsugo adds some depth to the upper minors. Since he’s in the organization before September 1, he would be eligible for postseason play if he hits well enough to warrant a look and should the Giants qualify. San Francisco currently occupies the second NL Wild Card spot but is just a game a half clear of the D-Backs, Reds and Marlins (the top non-playoff teams at the moment).

Giants Place Brandon Crawford On 10-Day Injured List

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The Giants announced that shortstop Brandon Crawford has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a left forearm strain.  The placement is retroactive to August 19.  Outfielder Luis Matos was called up from Triple-A to take Crawford’s place on the active roster.

This is Crawford’s third IL stint of the season, as he missed roughly three weeks total due to a calf strain and left knee inflammation.  Giants manager Gabe Kapler told reporters (including Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle) that Crawford’s forearm issue was impacting his swing, which explains why Crawford has only a single hit in his last 31 plate appearances.  The club’s initial plan was to give Crawford a couple of days off, but he’ll now get at least 10 days to recover.

In a little over 14 months, Crawford has now made five different trips to the injured list.  Recurring knee problems have led to the majority of those placements, and he was also briefly shut down during Spring Training this year due to more knee discomfort.  The injuries have short-circuited what looked like a late-career revival for Crawford, who finished fourth in NL MVP voting in 2021 for delivering a huge performance in his age-34 season.

Crawford has hit only .194/.264/.318 over 270 plate appearances in 2023, and while his glovework has still been excellent, it surely isn’t the platform Crawford wanted for the final guaranteed year of his contract.  While Crawford was somewhat non-committal last winter about the possibility of playing beyond the 2023 season, a year of injuries and struggles at the plate isn’t how the longtime Giants shortstop would want to wrap up his outstanding 13-year career.  The severity of the forearm strain isn’t yet known, so it isn’t clear if Crawford could be in danger of missing the remainder of the 2023 campaign.

Casey Schitt was called up from Triple-A yesterday, and the Giants also recently selected the minor league deal of Johan Camargo.  These two players will likely handle shortstop duty while Crawford is out, and Thairo Estrada has also seen some time at the position this season.

Giants Select Johan Camargo

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The Giants announced they’ve selected the contract of infielder Johan Camargo. San Francisco also confirmed the selection of outfield prospect Wade Meckler and the designation of outfielder Luis González. Infielder Mark Mathias and rookie outfielder Luis Matos were optioned to Triple-A Sacramento in corresponding moves. To open a 40-man spot for Camargo, San Francisco transferred starter Anthony DeSclafani from the 15-day to the 60-day injured list.

Camargo gets back to the big leagues for a seventh straight year. The switch-hitting infielder had spent the ’23 campaign in Triple-A, moving from the Royals to the Tigers and then San Francisco. He just signed a minor league pact with the Giants over the weekend, reaching the majors after two appearances with Sacramento.

Between the three organizations, Camargo owns a solid .260/.339/.466 batting line. He’s been limited to 39 Triple-A games by an early-season injury. The 29-year-old has a fairly established track record, though. He owns an impressive .302/.375/.501 slash in a little more than 1000 career Triple-A plate appearances.

Camargo has a .255/.313/.410 mark over his MLB career. A productive everyday third baseman for the Braves between 2017-18, he’s settled into a journeyman role over the last few years. Camargo has hit .219/.271/.348 through 559 plate appearances over the past four seasons. The bigger appeal lies in his flexibility defensively. The Panama native has over 300 MLB innings at each of second base, third base and shortstop. Public metrics have given him roughly average reviews up-the-middle and plus marks for his work at the hot corner.

DeSclafani recently suffered a flexor strain in his throwing arm. He won’t throw until late September at the earliest and seems likely to miss the remainder of the season.

Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area first reported Camargo’s impending promotion.

Giants To Select Wade Meckler

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The Giants plan to select the contract of outfielder Wade Meckler, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN (Twitter link). San Francisco is reportedly designating Luis González for assignment to create a 40-man roster spot but will need to make a corresponding active roster move.

Meckler, an eighth-round pick from Oregon State last July, moved exceptionally quickly up the minor league ranks. The 23-year-old finished last season in the low minors and began this year with High-A Eugene. He destroyed generally younger pitching and was bumped to Double-A by mid-May. Meckler didn’t slow down, hitting .336/.431/.450 over 39 appearances to move up to Triple-A two weeks ago.

The left-handed hitter needed just 10 games with the River Cats to force the organization’s hand. He raked at a .400/.546/.600 line at the top minor league level. Overall, Meckler sports a ridiculous .379/.463/.522 batting line in 294 plate appearances on the season. He’s walking at an elite 13.3% clip compared to a modest 14.6% strikeout percentage.

Meckler doesn’t have overwhelming physical tools. He’s only homered five times and swiped just six bases in 10 attempts. Yet there’s little doubt he has quickly raised his profile thanks to his excellent contact skills and strike zone awareness. In June, Eric Longenhagen and Tess Taruskin of FanGraphs ranked him ninth among Giants’ prospects. Baseball America slotted him sixth in the system on their midseason update.

Both outlets call Meckler’s contact skills his carrying tool. He’s mostly a corner outfielder, though the Giants have given him 20 starts in center field this season. The extreme contact approach will be tougher to pull off if Meckler can’t stick in center field, but there’s little question about his minor league dominance. As Passan points out, he’s just the fourth player from the 2022 draft class to reach the big leagues — and the first non-Angel, as Zach Neto, Ben Joyce and Victor Mederos are the others.

Giants To Designate Luis Gonzalez For Assignment

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The Giants are designating outfielder Luis González for assignment, reports Andrew Baggarly of the Athletic (Twitter link). The club has yet to announce the move.

González, 28 next month, first landed with the Giants late in the 2021 season. A season-ending injury had led the White Sox to release him that August. The Giants claimed him off waivers and kept him on the injured list for the rest of that season. They non-tendered him at the start of the offseason but immediately brought him back on a minor league pact and re-selected his contract last April.

The former third-round pick had a productive ’22 season. He tallied 350 plate appearances and hit .253/.323/.360. González only homered four times but hit 17 doubles, stole 10 bases and posted roughly league average strikeout and walk rates. He at least looked the part of a solid rotational outfield piece.

Unfortunately, injuries have derailed his 2023 to date. González battled back discomfort in Spring Training and was eventually diagnosed with a disc herniation. He underwent surgery in mid-March and was on the IL until last week. González has been off to a slow start in Triple-A Sacramento. Through 14 games (nine on a rehab stint, five since being optioned after his reinstatement from the IL), he’s hitting .241/.344/.308.

That’ll squeeze him off the roster and onto the waiver wire. With the trade deadline in the rearview mirror, San Francisco has to waive González after the DFA. They’ll technically have seven days, though it’s likely they’ll do so within the next few days. There’s a decent chance he’ll be claimed after last year’s respectable showing.

González has one minor league option year remaining. If he spends 13 more days in the minors this season, he’d exhaust that option in 2023. He won’t be eligible for arbitration until the end of next season at the earliest.

NL West Notes: Diamondbacks, Yaz, Haniger, Luciano, Profar

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In designating Carson Kelly for assignment earlier today, the Diamondbacks are a little short on catching depth, and GM Mike Hazen told reporters (including MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert) that the club was looking out for external catching options.  Gabriel Moreno is the catcher of the present and future in Arizona, and beyond backup Jose Herrera, Ali Sanchez and Juan Centeno are the only other backstops in the organization with any Major League experience.  Despite the situation, Hazen felt that “with five to six weeks to go, depth becomes less important than trying to put the best [team] on the field….When we had the roster construction in the first half of the season with Gabi and Herrera, we played really well.  I don’t know that that is going to be the secret formula to getting back to the way we were before, I don’t think that’s anyone’s expectation, but that was the choice we had, to send Herrera down or make this move.  We decided to make this move.”

Today’s victory over the Padres brought the D’Backs back up to a .500 (59-59) record, though the club is only 10-25 since the start of July.  Between this slide and the Dodgers catching fire, the D’Backs went from leading the NL West to trailing Los Angeles by 12.5 games, and the Snakes are also 2.5 games back of a wild card position.  While any number of factors have contributed to Arizona’s struggles, a lack of pitching has been the biggest culprit, and the D’Backs will now “take some risks and play it by ear, week by week” with their rotation, according to Hazen.  Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly, and Brandon Pfaadt will continue to operate as traditional starters, but the team be open to using bullpen games, piggyback starters, or opener/bulk pitcher setups for the remaining two rotation spots until Zach Davies is back from the 15-day injured list to take one of the spots.

Some other notes from around the NL West…

  • Mike Yastrzemski has been on the Giants’ 10-day IL since July 31 recovering from a hamstring strain, but the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser writes that the outfielder is close to being activated.  Yastrzemski had a live batting practice session on Saturday and has been running the bases at full speed, so it doesn’t appear as though he’ll need any minor league rehab work.  With Yastrzemski possibly returning on Monday, Slusser speculates that the Giants might option Luis Matos to Triple-A, since Heliot Ramos has been hitting well as of late.
  • In other Giants injury updates, Mitch Haniger could soon begin a minor league rehab assignment, and Slusser estimates that he might return to the majors in around two weeks’ time.  Haniger hasn’t played since June 13 due to forearm surgery, continuing his unfortunate recent history of injury-shortened seasons.  The news isn’t as good for Marco Luciano, as the top prospect will sidelined for at least a month due to a hamstring strain.  Luciano made his MLB debut with a four-game cameo with the Giants in July, as the team needed an extra infielder to help solve some depth issues.  Over 292 combined plate appearances at Double-A and Triple-A in 2023, Luciano has hit .231/.336/.445 with 13 home runs.
  • Jurickson Profar suffered what the Rockies described as a twisted left knee in today’s game, which forced Profar to make an early exit.  Profar had to collide with the left field ball to make a running catch on a Mookie Betts fly ball, and Profar was in obvious discomfort afterwards.  Colorado manager Bud Black told reporters (including Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post) that Profar had already been dealing with a sore left knee even prior to today’s injury, and the outfielder will undergo an MRI to determine the extent of the problem.

Giants Sign Johan Camargo To Minor League Deal

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The Giants have signed infielder Johan Camargo to a minor league deal, per his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He already reported to Triple-A Sacramento, going 2-5 in last night’s game.

Camargo, 29, has spent many years as a versatile utility player in the majors but hasn’t been able to crack the big leagues this year. He was outrighted by the Phillies last year and became a free agent. This year, he has bounced to the Royals, Tigers and now Giants on minor league deals.

The first of those deals went fairly well, apart from the fact that an injury kept Camargo out of action until mid-May. Once healthy, he hit .298/.412/.544 for Triple-A Omaha. Despite that strong showing, he didn’t get a roster spot with the Royals and triggered an opt-out in his deal, returning to the open market. But he wasn’t able to carry that performance to the Tigers’ organization, hitting .238/.295/.400 for Triple-A Toledo and getting released just over a week ago.

Prior to this year, he’s played in 416 major league games with Atlanta and Philadelphia. His .255/.313/.410 batting line amounts to a wRC+ of 90, or 10% below league average. But he’s been able to play all four infield positions and the outfield corners, generally earning solid grades for his glovework, especially at third base.

He has now joined his third organization of the year and will try to get back to the big leagues as a Giant, which might be challenging. Middle infielders Brandon Crawford and Thairo Estrada both returned from the injured list recently, improving the overall infield depth. Brett Wisely, Casey Schmitt and Marco Luciano are all on the 40-man but currently on optional assignment. Since Camargo isn’t on the roster, he might have a tough time getting the call before anyone in that group.

If Camargo is able to get onto the roster, he could provide the Giants with an extra two years of control. His service time count is currently at four years and 104 days. He would need another 68 days to hit the five-year mark, which he won’t be able to do at this point in the calendar. That means he could be retained twice via arbitration before getting to six years and automatic free agency.

Tigers Claim Isan Diaz From Giants, Designate Zach Logue

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The Tigers have claimed infielder Isan Díaz off waivers from the Giants and optioned him to Triple-A Toledo, tweets Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic. Left-hander Zach Logue was designated for assignment in a corresponding 40-man move. Diaz’s spot on San Francisco’s 40-man roster will go to outfielder Luis González, who has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list and optioned to Triple-A Sacramento.

Díaz returned to the majors with San Francisco a couple months ago. After a 2022 season as a non-roster player in Triple-A, he was selected onto the Giants’ 40-man last offseason. He’s spent the bulk of the year on the minor league injured list but gotten into six big league contests. The left-handed hitting infielder has a .240/.324/.490 line this season in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, striking out at an untenable 35.2% clip over 26 games.

The former top prospect had a much better .275/.377/.574 showing in Sacramento a year ago, however. Detroit baseball operations leader Scott Harris was in the Giants’ front office for the bulk of that season. He’ll take another look at Díaz, who is in his final minor league option year. The 27-year-old has only mustered a .179/.269/.277 batting line in 151 MLB games spread over four campaigns. He’s a .268/.359/.525 hitter in over 1100 trips to the dish at the top minor league level.

Detroit claimed Logue off waivers from the A’s last offseason. They quickly ran him through waivers themselves but selected him back onto the roster in late-June. The 27-year-old has thrown 11 innings of relief through a trio of appearances, allowing nine runs despite a solid 10:2 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Logue was hammered for a 6.79 ERA over 57 frames with Oakland a season ago and has a 6.22 mark through 63 2/3 innings with Toledo.

The Tigers will again place the Kentucky product on waivers this week. Should he go unclaimed, he’d have the right to become a minor league free agent based on his previous career outright.

González has missed the entire season after offseason back surgery. He’s now healthy but won’t step right back onto the big league roster. The 27-year-old had a solid .254/.323/.360 showing over 350 plate appearances last year — his first extended MLB action.

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