Giants To Designate Luis Gonzalez For Assignment
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
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
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
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.
Anthony DeSclafani Shut Down For 6-8 Weeks, Doubtful To Pitch Again In 2023
A grade 1 flexor strain went Anthony DeSclafani to the 15-day injured list last weekend, leading to some speculation that the right-hander’s season might be over. Some new details have added more doubt to DeSclafani’s status, as Giants manager Gabe Kapler told media (including MLB.com and Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle) that DeSclafani received a PRP injection today, and will be shut down from throwing for the next 6-8 weeks.
Kapler said “we don’t want to rule anything out” about DeSclafani’s status, but the calendar alone seems to suggest that the righty may have already thrown his last pitch of the season. In the best-case scenario that DeSclafani is able to resume throwing on September 18, he won’t have much time to ramp up, so he would very likely return as a reliever at most. If the recovery takes longer than six weeks or if San Francisco is out of the playoff race by the back half of September, the team might just opt to shut DeSclafani down and look ahead to 2024.
DeSclafani had an excellent year with the Giants in 2021, and he returned to the team in free agency that offseason on a three-year, $36MM contract. Unfortunately, he has been plagued by injuries ever since, most notably an ankle surgery that limited his 2022 campaign to just 19 innings. DeSclafani has a 4.88 ERA over 99 2/3 innings this year, dealing with a nagging toe injury, as well as a minimum 15-day stint on the IL in July due to shoulder fatigue.
Had DeSclafani been healthy, the Giants’ trade deadline might have looked quite different, as the club was getting some calls about its starting rotation depth prior to August 1. However, with DeSclafani’s injury already thinning that depth, San Francisco opted against moving pitching and ended up largely standing pat at the deadline. The Giants are already using an unorthodox rotation of two regular starters (Logan Webb and Alex Cobb) and then several other hurlers as openers and bulk pitchers, depending on circumstances and availability.
It remains to be seen if San Francisco can ride this tactic for the next two months, but the results have been good so far, as the Giants entered today’s play with a 61-50 record and the top NL wild card slot. DeSclafani’s chances of a return would enhance if the Giants can extend their season into October, though a team might not want to use a playoff series roster spot on a pitching coming off an extended layoff.
Giants Less Likely To Trade From Rotation After DeSclafani Injury
Within the past week, multiple reports have emerged about the Giants receiving interest on their starting pitchers. There was some thought that San Francisco could deal a back-end starter for help elsewhere on the roster.
President of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi downplayed that possibility when meeting with the SF beat last night (link via Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Area). Pointing to the recent placement of Anthony DeSclafani on the 15-day injured list (plus an injury to Triple-A righty Keaton Winn), Zaidi said the front office is “kind of in a different position than we were even a week ago” with regards to the pitching. As a result, he stated “it’s less likely we explore something there. It kind of feels like we have just enough pitching to be comfortable and to have some options, but we’ll see what happens over the next day.”
At the same time, it doesn’t seem the Giants are anxious to add rotation depth either. Asked about that possibility, Zaidi noted the club’s success when deploying openers and/or bullpen games. He’s also spoken previously about his comfort with the likes of Alex Wood, Sean Manaea, Ross Stripling and Jakob Junis behind staff ace Logan Webb. At the beginning of July, the baseball operations leader said the Giants were likely only to get involved for potential top-of-the-rotation arms — which are generally lacking in supply this deadline season anyhow.
Still, the loss of DeSclafani deals something of a hit to the group. The righty hasn’t had a great season, carrying a 4.88 ERA with a below-average 18.9% strikeout rate. He trails only Webb and Cobb on the team in innings pitched, though. DeSclafani is battling a flexor strain in his throwing elbow. The team announced last night the righty was headed for a second opinion (relayed by Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle). There’s a possibility the injury will end his season, though the results of further imaging will obviously determine that.
While the Giants might be quiet on the pitching front, they’ll surely continue working the phones over the next six-plus hours. San Francisco has been searching for middle infield help for some time. Thairo Estrada is headed out on a minor league rehab stint, perhaps reducing the urgency to add there, but there’s still room for an acquisition given Estrada’s and Brandon Crawford’s recent health concerns.
Phillies, Blue Jays, Giants Have Shown Interest In Teoscar Hernandez
The Phillies, Giants and Blue Jays are among the teams that touched base with the Mariners regarding Teoscar Hernández, reports Jon Morosi of MLB.com (Twitter link). Morosi indicates upwards of six teams have been involved and that a deal involving Hernández before tomorrow’s deadline looks increasingly probable.
None of that registers as a surprise. Seattle has hinted at potentially dealing short-term veterans for a couple weeks. They began that by sending Paul Sewald to Arizona for three controllable hitters this afternoon. While Sewald had an extra year of arbitration, Hernández is a few months from the open market.
The veteran outfielder is amidst a down season. He carries a .238/.288/.408 batting line through 441 plate appearances into play Monday night. He’s connected on 16 home runs but is striking out a lofty 32% clip, his highest mark since 2019. Hernández got off to a dreadful start to his Seattle tenure. He’d seemed to turn the corner with a .303/.376/.573 showing in June before a massive .198/.248/.287 slump this month.
Despite the middling season, Hernández is a straightforward change-of-scenery target. He hit .283/.333/.519 through his last three years in Toronto. While his offensive numbers have collapsed this year, he’s arguably playing the best defense of his career. Hernández has rated as a below-average right fielder for the bulk of his career but gotten solid marks (+5 Defensive Runs Saved, +1 run above average per Statcast) across 801 1/3 innings there this year.
Each of the teams linked to his market has expressed an interest in adding some right-handed punch. It’d be a bit surprising to see the Blue Jays circle back on Hernández nine months after trading him, but the acquisition cost this summer would be much lower than what they received from Seattle (reliever Erik Swanson and pitching prospect Adam Macko). Toronto has left-handed hitting Daulton Varsho and Brandon Belt at left field and designated hitter, respectively, though Varsho has been better against same-handed pitching this season.
Philadelphia is openly targeting a right-handed hitting corner outfielder. With Bryce Harper able to play first base, they’re looking to move Kyle Schwarber to DH and add some pop in left field. They’ve also been linked to the Mets’ Tommy Pham and Red Sox’s Adam Duvall.
San Francisco and Seattle are frequent trade partners. They just lined up a deal this evening that sent AJ Pollock and Mark Mathias to the Bay Area. Pollock is having a poor enough season that Hernández could still be of interest. San Francisco will be without Mitch Haniger into September and just placed Mike Yastrzemski on the injured list for the third time this season. They have Austin Slater on hand as a right-handed hitting outfielder but enough short-term uncertainty in left field to make Hernández a potential fit.
Hernández is making $14MM this season. He’s due around $4.67MM through year’s end.
Big Hype Prospects: Manzardo, Acuna, Luciano, Quero, Saggese
The Trade Deadline seems to be happening early this year. Between the time I begin writing and this is posted, there might be more deals involving big-name prospects. This week, we’ll focus on the recently completed swaps. We’ll check back on the leftovers next time.
Five Big Hype Prospects
Kyle Manzardo, 23, 1B, CLE (AAA)
313 PA, 11 HR, 1 SB, .238/.342/.442
Manzardo burst onto Top 100 prospect rankings last season with a flashy 22-homer performance in nearly 400 plate appearances split between High- and Double-A. He has all the traits armchair prospect analysts (like myself) crave – plus discipline, a high rate of contact, and above-average exit velocities. If there was a fly in the ointment, his combination of high BABIPs and frequent fly balls seemed untenable. This season, he’s dropped to a more plausible .269 BABIP while maintaining the fly ball rate. His 2023 numbers more closely match his identity. His power outcomes have backed up, but there’s little cause for long-term concern. Additionally, Progressive Field is friendly to left-handed power hitters. Manzardo is undersized for a first baseman, and his power draws 45 and 50 grades on the 20/80 scouting scale. The profile reads a lot like a four-inches-shorter, left-handed Rhys Hoskins.
Luisangel Acuna, 21, 2B/SS, NYM (AA)
402 PA, 7 HR, 42 SB, .315/.377/.452
Repeating Double-A after a rough first exposure last season, Acuna has looked comfortable at the level. His BABIP-fueled batting line is 21 percent above league average (121 wRC+) despite middling power numbers. Like his brother, Luisangel has terrorized opponents on the basepaths. Scouts rate him as merely an above-average runner. There is a degree of swing-and-miss (12.4% SwStr%) to Acuna’s game that calls his future role into question. He’s expected to grow into average or better power if he can learn to lift the ball more consistently. Whether or not he can do so without developing a strikeout problem could depend on the sort of adjustment required. Lift-related mechanical changes tend to exacerbate whiff issues. In some cases, the issue is the location of contact – an adjustment that can yield positive results without negative repercussions. Acuna’s swing is violent and loud. Change could prove challenging. Despite strong walk rates, Acuna is an aggressive swinger, particularly at breaking balls below the zone.
Necessary offensive adjustments aside, there’s also question about Acuna’s future defensive role. He’s a physically capable shortstop who yet lacks polish. Lately, we’ve grown accustomed to seeing shortstop prospects with precocious defensive ability. Acuna could be asked to move over to second or third to better accommodate his ascent alongside Francisco Lindor.
Marco Luciano, 21, SS, SFG (MLB)
(AA) 242 PA, 11 HR, 6 SB, .228/.339/.450
The only member of today’s column who wasn’t traded, the Giants rushed Luciano to the Majors to cover a short-term opening at shortstop. Despite tepid overall numbers at Double-A, Luciano caught a heater beginning in late June. He batted .315/.397/.500 over his final 63 plate appearances at the level. His success carried over to a 27-plate appearance stint in Triple-A where he batted .292/.370/.625 with Major League caliber exit velocities. He’s 3-for-11 with five strikeouts thus far in the Majors. The once uber-prospect has developed into a slug-over-contact future third baseman. His strikeout rate might check in north of 30 percent. Only 11 qualified hitters have strikeout rates above 30 percent. The good news is nine of 11 have above-average batting lines. The two who don’t – Teoscar Hernandez and Byron Buxton – are celebrated hitters. Luciano will look to join this cohort of hitters.
It’s unlikely Luciano sticks with the contending Giants in the short term.
Edgar Quero, 20, C, CWS (AA)
321 PA, 3 HR, 1 SB, .246/.386/.332
A switch-hitter, Quero emerged as a bat-first catching prospect last season when he hit .312/.435/.530 with 17 home runs and 12 stolen bases in 515 Low-A plate appearances. The Angels made the curious decision to skip him past High-A – perhaps seeking to pair him with a better defensive instructor. His discipline remained in evidence this season. The power… not so much. Another plausible explanation of Quero’s aggressive assignment is to see if he merited moving to a different position to accommodate his bat. Instead, the Angels moved him from the organization entirely in the Lucas Giolito trade. Look for Chicago to slow the roll on Quero’s development. His defensive skills are reported to remain relatively raw.
Thomas Saggese, 21, 3B, STL (AA)
418 PA, 15 HR, 8 SB, .313/.379/.512
Saggese doesn’t have the physical traits evaluators crave, but he makes up for it with a hard-nosed playstyle. Part of the Jordan Montgomery trade, it feels like he was always destined to join the Cardinals. His tools draw a collection of 40 and 50 grades, but his feel for quality contact allows the total package to play up. Multiple reports reference his success against sliders. Something to watch is how he performs against upper-level pitchers with big fastballs and command. The Cardinals might seek to add corner outfield to Saggese’s bag of tricks. He fits best at third base, is considered too short for first base, and just passes at second base. The Cards love their role players to possess a deep well of utility.
Three More
Tekoah Roby, STL (21): The prospect headliner of the Montgomery trade, Roby has a four-pitch repertoire of above-average offerings. His best weapon is a double-plus curve ball. He’s currently sidelined with a shoulder injury. There’s relief risk for health reasons only – the stuff and command are sufficient to project a mid-rotation role.
Marco Vargas, NYM (18): Stolen from the Marlins in the David Robertson trade, Vargas is one of the flashier talents in the complex. He’s batting .283/.457/.442 with nearly twice as many walks as strikeouts and a strong rate of contact. Power development will decide whether he’s viewed as a future utility fielder or core performer.
Adam Kloffenstein, STL (22): Part of the return for Jordan Hicks, Kloffenstein is a big right-hander with a limited repertoire. He tunnels a sinker and slider in a way reminiscent of Brady Singer and Brad Keller. He has a solid feel for command and projects to eat innings in an uninspiring way. He’s pitched to a 3.24 ERA in 89 Double-A frames.
Did I miss a detail or nuance? DM me on Twitter @BaseballATeam to suggest corrections.
Giants Acquire AJ Pollock, Mark Mathias From Mariners
The Giants announced they’ve acquired outfielder AJ Pollock, utility player Mark Mathias and cash considerations from the Mariners. Seattle receives a player to be named later or cash in return. San Francisco optioned Mathias to Triple-A, placed Mike Yastrzemski on the 10-day injured list, and transferred right-hander John Brebbia to the 60-day injured list in corresponding moves.
Jon Morosi of MLB.com tweeted this afternoon that San Francisco was among the teams looking for right-handed hitting. They add a pair of righty bats in this trade, although neither is necessarily a surefire offensive upgrade.
Mathias, whom the Mariners acquired off waivers from the Pirates earlier this month, departs the organization without ever joining the big league roster. The 28 year old offers experience all around the diamond, though he has primarily played second and third base throughout his career. Initially drafted by Cleveland in the third round of the 2015 draft, Mathias has bounced around the league since making his big league debut with Milwaukee in 2020, with stints in Pittsburgh and Texas over the past calendar year.
In 68 career games at the big league level, Mathias’s .249/.323/.402 slash line is good for a slightly above average wRC+ of 104, though that overall line is primarily carried by an excellent 24-game stretch with the Rangers where he slashed a whopping .277/.365/.554 in 74 trips to the plate. While the journeyman has yet to stick in the big leagues for a significant period of time, that hot stretch in Texas and a career slash line of .289/.383/.458 at the Triple-A level indicate Mathias has the potential to be a useful big league utility piece.
The veteran Pollock, 35, has struggled considerably to this point in the season, slashing a brutal .173/.225/.323 in 138 plate appearances. He’ll provide the Giants with outfield depth as they look to weather injuries to Mitch Haniger and Yastrzemski, the latter of whom is expected to miss a couple weeks with a left hamstring strain.
Pollock had mashed left-handed pitching as recently as a season ago. He provides an outfield rotation option and experienced clubhouse presence alongside the presumptive starting group of Michael Conforto, Luis Matos, and Austin Slater, at least while Yastrzemski gets healthy.
The Mariners continue to move some short-term players following this afternoon’s trade of closer Paul Sewald to Arizona. The player to be named headed back to Seattle figures to be a relatively minor piece. Of greater import is that San Francisco might be taking on some of Pollock’s $7MM salary. The precise amount of the cash being sent from Seattle to the Giants remains unreported. Pollock is owed around $2.33MM through season’s end, at which point he’ll be a free agent.
Jeff Passan of ESPN first reported the Giants were finalizing a deal for Pollock and Mathias. Daniel Kramer of MLB.com reported the M’s could receive a player to be named later.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Giants Could Deal From Rotation Depth
The Giants have drawn interest in their starting pitchers, and while ace Logan Webb rather clearly figures to be off the table in any discussions, San Francisco has a handful of shorter-term options that could make for more realistic trade possibilities. FanSided’s Robert Murray wrote last week that lefty Alex Wood could be an option to change hands, and Ken Rosenthal and Jayson Stark of The Athletic have now similarly mentioned the possibility of trading Wood or another bulk-innings option as a means of acquiring either middle infield help or prospect depth.
A free agent at season’s end, the 32-year-old Wood has voiced a preference to remain with the Giants (link via Evan Webeck of the San Jose Mercury News). However, he’s also made clear he wants to start games, and San Francisco has frequently used him as a bulk option behind an opener. Four of Wood’s past six appearances have come in relief of an opener. He hasn’t reached six innings in an appearance all season and hasn’t recorded an out in the sixth inning since May 26.
The Giants have been careful about limiting the number of times Wood faces opponents in a game, and with good reason. In 2022, when the lefty was deployed solely as a starter, he held opponents to a .241/.300/.344 batting line on the first trip through the order and a .256/.307/.399 slash the second time around. In the 95 plate appearances where Wood turned a lineup over for the third time, opponents exploded for a .326/.368/.573 batting line. He had similarly problematic splits in 2021, too.
Wood could certainly still be of interest to clubs seeking help at the back of the rotation, although he currently looks like something of a buy-low candidate and might need to be swapped out for an infielder in similar standing with his organization. The veteran southpaw has a pedestrian 4.75 ERA on the season, and his 18.8% strikeout rate, 11.2% walk rate, 43.6% ground-ball rate and 1.19 HR/9 mark have all gone in the wrong direction, relative to his 2021-22 output. Wood is pitching in the second season of a two-year, $25MM deal and will reach free agency again following the season. About $4.167MM of this year’s salary remains to be paid out.
San Francisco has other arms to peddle in similar scenarios. Right-hander Ross Stripling and lefty Sean Manaea are both in the first season of two-year deals that guarantee them the same $25MM promised to Wood. Both, however, can opt out at season’s end. Neither has pitched up to his career standards, but both have been considerably better after a tough start to the year. Since returning from the injured list in late June, Stripling carries a 3.64 ERA and a sensational 22-to-1 K/BB ratio in 29 1/3 innings. Manaea, since a full-time move to multi-inning relief work, has 4.03 ERA with a 29.2% strikeout rate against just a 5.9% walk rate. The recent trends are encouraging, but the Giants might still have a tough time extracting present-day value in a trade — and it’s quite possible one or both will forgo his opt-out opportunity at season’s end. That’ll depend largely on how the final two months play out.
It’s worth noting that since reports about interest in the Giants’ rotation depth first emerged, right-hander Anthony DeSclafani was placed on the injured list. An MRI revealed a Grade 1 flexor strain, and DeSclafani is expected to miss a “few weeks” with the injury, at the very least. That, coupled with his prior struggles leading up to the IL placement (21 runs in his past 23 1/3 innings), figures to all but remove him as a trade candidate.