The Giants currently are stumbling through a six-game losing streak that is erasing memories of the team's seven-game winning streak that survived through the All-Star break. But the team reportedly still plans to make a splash at the deadline.
“I’ve heard their priority is to acquire a significant starting pitcher and a shortstop,” The Athletic’s Jim Bowden reported Monday. “They are playing at the top of the starting pitching market, talking to all the teams (Mets, Cubs, Cardinals and White Sox) who have made those types available.”
There it is.
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San Francisco hasn’t seen much offensive production at shortstop this season. Brandon Crawford is batting just .207 with a 70 OPS+ this season, while rookie Casey Schmitt is hitting .115/.206/.146 over his last 37 games since notching 28 hits in his first 23 games. Overall, the Giants rank 20th among MLB teams with a .675 OPS at shortstop this season and 25th with an offensive bWAR of 0.5.
Potential fits on the trading block are Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson and Tommy Edman of the St. Louis Cardinals.
Anderson, under team control through 2024, is having a down year at the plate (.564 OPS) but was an All-Star the previous two seasons, won a Silver Slugger in 2020 and won the AL batting title (.335 average) in 2019. Edman isn’t having much of an offensive season himself (89 OPS+) but would be an upgrade to the lack of production the Giants have seen at the position, and he provides plenty of versatility in the lineup.
One under-the-radar target could be Texas Rangers youngster Ezequiel Duran, who is batting .297/.338/.851 with 13 homers this season and has started games at every fielding position but catcher over his short career.
San Francisco Giants
Starting pitching is a need, too, as Logan Webb and Alex Cobb have proven to be the team’s only two reliable rotation options. Mets right-hander Carlos Carrasco, Cubs starter Marcus Stroman, White Sox righties Lucas Giolito and Mike Clevinger, and Cardinals impending free agent Jack Flaherty could all slide into the Giants' rotation and make an impact.
After losing to the Detroit Tigers on Monday, San Francisco owns a 54-47 record. The Giants are 4.5 games behind the rival Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West and hold the NL’s third and final wild-card spot.
They intend to make a deadline splash, but need to quickly turn things around to convince president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi to be aggressive in the trade market.