What’s revealing after all the major-league wheeling and dealing.
Quick hits on the Giants, A’s and other teams as Wednesday’s trade deadline passed:
The Giants managed to keep reliever Will Smith, and that’s a very good thing, if they think they have a shot in the wildcard race. It’s one thing to thrive out of the bullpen, but quite another to close games with a ton of pressure involved. Smith is one of the very best, and lefthanded hitters are often helpless against him.
As for the rest of the Giants’ bullpen, things get interesting. Just when Mark Melancon was starting to remind people of his glory days in Pittsburgh, he’s off to Atlanta. Sam Dyson, extremely valuable in middle relief, was shipped to Minnesota. Evaluating Ray Black and Drew Pomeranz, off to Milwaukee, isn’t so easy. The Giants love Black’s raw stuff, but he had yet to convince the organization that he’s ready for the big leagues. Pomeranz seemed to have found new life as a reliever, but who knows if that continues? And in the wake of these departures, do the Giants have enough bullpen strength to hand Smith those lateinnings leads? A name to keep in mind: Melvin Adon, who has struck out 59 batters in 45 innings for DoubleA Richmond with his 102mph fastball.
At the start of the season, the Giants’ farm system was universally ranked among baseball’s worst. In Baseball America’s most recent rankings, San Francisco had moved up to 15th. Now, with the addition of infielder Mauricio Dubon (from the Brewers) and shortstop Marco Luciano drawing raves for his allaround performances in the Arizona Rookie League, there’s some hope for a nice doubleplay combination down the line. Meanwhile, newly acquired second baseman Scooter Gennett might be only a rental player for the remainder of the season, and he has had some injury problems, but he hit .310 with 23 homers for Cincinnati last year. Great pickup.
Dubon felt cheated in 2013 when he wasn’t drafted until the 26th round, by the Red Sox. He ascended quickly through Boston’s system, but the organization had sufficient depth to deal him to Milwaukee in December 2016. He’s considered himself a shortstop but is projected to be a solid second baseman as well.
Interesting that when the Giants return home from their road trip, they open a homestand with a threegame series against Washington (Monday through Wednesday). The Nationals are one of the teams San Francisco is chasing in the wildcard race, and they were clearly the superior club before the deadline. Now they’ve made three key additions to the bullpen: lefty Roenis Elias from Seattle, righthander Daniel Hudson from Toronto, and everyone’s favorite hothead, Hunter Strickland, from Seattle.
And isn’t that a kick? Strickland will be walking into a Washington clubhouse full of people who remember his brawl with Bryce Harper two years ago — an incident created entirely by Strickland’s reckless temper. Not only that, Strickland jumps into the same division with Harper and the Phillies. But Strickland’s health is in question. Strickland has only recently pitched in minorleague rehabilitation starts after coming off the 60day injured list because of a lat strain.
As for the other teams in the N.L. wildcard picture, the Diamondbacks did nothing of significance (Arizona taking a step backward by dealing Zack Greinke to Houston). The Cubs figured it was worth sending two highly regarded prospects to Detroit for powerhitting outfielder Nick Castellanos, who tends to crush lefty pitching. The Phillies picked up outfielder Corey Dickerson and pitcher Jason Vargas, but that’s lowimpact stuff. We’ll see if the exGiants improve Milwaukee’s bullpen. The Mets can’t be entirely ruled out, because they traded for Marcus Stroman and kept Noah Syndergaard. Same goes for the Reds, who really shook up the club but will go down the stretch with a rotation led by Trevor Bauer, Luis Castillo and Sonny Gray.
There’s no chance of firstplace Atlanta slipping back into the wildcard picture. Not after the Braves picked up Melancon and Shane Greene, who had been the Tigers’ closer with a 1.18 ERA and 22 saves (after 32 last year).
1 As for the A’s, they had no chance to catch Houston before the deadline, and now it’s
really over with the Astros acquiring Greinke to join Gerrit Cole, Justin Verlander and Wade Miley in the rotation. But Oakland did well, picking up starting pitcher Tanner Roark (most likely a twomonth rental) after earlier acquiring lefty reliever Jake Diekman, who has exceptional stuff and should really help.
Cleveland, atop the A.L. wildcard race with a narrow lead over the A’s, will be a team worth watching. The Indians were willing to sacrifice Bauer, one of the league’s top starters, to make huge improvements in their outfield/DH setup: Yasiel Puig (from the Reds) and Franmil Reyes (San Diego). Puig can be a pill, and he’s just passing through before his wintertime free agency, but he’ll be on his best behavior with a postseason spot on the line, belting home runs and making tremendous throws from right field. Reyes will be a gift with his aweinspiring power and winning personality.
From ESPN’s Jeff Passan before the deadline: “Among available starting pitchers, Madison Bumgarner is the biggest name. But Trevor Bauer is the best pitcher.” Disagree. Bumgarner gives you the height of competitive nature and clubhouse presence. Bauer (who happens to lead the A.L. in walks) has been considered a bad teammate for years, truly a party of one, and there was nothing new or surprising about that incident Sunday in Kansas City. (At the first sight of manager Terry Francona coming out to make a pitching change, Bauer turned his back and fired the ball over the centerfield fence.) Bauer once told SI.com, “I’m good at two things in this world: throwing baseballs and pissing people off . ... I don’t know if I’m not afraid of sticking middle fingers in people’s faces, or if I enjoy it. But I end up doing that a lot.”
Sidelight to the Indians’ transactions: Christian Arroyo, once a glowing prospect in the Giants’ organization, went to Cleveland in a deal with Tampa Bay. Unfortunately, Arroyo has been sidelined with forearm tendinitis and probably won’t be able to play for the rest of the season.
Checking on the other two teams on Oakland’s radar: Boston stayed quiet. Tampa Bay might have scored heavily with first basemanoutfielder Jesus Aguilar, who had become a parttime player in Milwaukee but hit .274 with 35 homers and 108 RBIs last year, making the AllStar team.