The San Francisco Giants were seen as a team to watch during the MLB trade deadline. They are in the hunt for a postseason spot and have money available to take on bigger salaries.
Although they were connected with such big names as ace Justin Verlander (now with Houston) and Angels superstar DH/pitcher Shohei Ohtani, the Giants made only one minor move before Tuesday’s deadline.
On Monday, San Francisco moved cash and and a player to be named to Seattle for outfielder AJ Pollock and utilityman Mark Mathias. They will be replacements for Mike Yastrzemski and Thairo Estrada, both of whom hope to return soon from the injured list. The Giants believe these acquisitions will help the offense, which ranks 19th in batting average (.242).
Giants president of baseball ops Farhan Zaidi explained the team’s strategy.
“It’s really more just getting our guys back and feeling like our internal options (are good),” he said, per NBC Sports Bay Area. “The younger guys have gone through some ups and downs, but if we have an injury we feel confident they can fill the void.”
San Francisco’s roster is built on a lot of rookie contracts and cheaper deals. After the season, expensive players such as outfielder Joc Pederson and shortstop Brandon Crawford will become unrestricted free agents.
Although the Giants have failed to sign big-name free agents in the recent past, they have the ability to offer big contracts across the board and use their youth to attract these players. This could be a reason why the Giants did not go all in at the trade deadline, as the Cubs, Rangers and others did.
“If the goal was to do something, we could have traded half of our farm system for a fifth starter,” Zaidi said. “Somebody would have happily agreed to that deal. If you don’t do something, it’s just because there was nothing that made sense, and that was kind of the situation that we wound up with today.”
There is a reason why the Giants were connected to Ohtani during the trade deadline. Without making a big deal such as trading for Verlander or fellow ace Max Scherzer that would add significant money to the payroll, San Francisco now has the money to offer Ohtani a record contract, perhaps upward of $600 million, after he becomes a free agent in the offseason.