Over the past few weeks, “buy” and “sell” may have been the most commonly tweeted words among Giants fans. As the trade deadline got closer, the Giants got worse, as they lost their first 7 games after the All-Star Break. At the deadline, which was at 3 pm Pacific on August 2, the Giants were 3-9 in the second half, making “sell” probably more tweeted than “buy.”
As Giants Twitter was freaking out because the division-rival Padres traded for Juan Soto and the Giants had literally done nothing, Farhan Zaidi did what he always does, and swooped in at the last minute. He made three trades on August 2, and in this article, I’ll give my thoughts on them.
Giants trade RHRP Jeremy Walker to the Rays for C/IF Ford Proctor
Okay, well, Zaidi made four trades in total, one of them being on August 1. I had never heard of either of these players before this deal. It happened while I was at the Giants game with a group of friends, and the discussion went something like this:
“Giants made a trade!”
“No way! They never do that!”
“They traded for . . . Ford Proctor?”
“Who?” (said by 15 people in unison)
“They DFA’d Kervin Castro!!!”
“NOOOOOO!” (said by 15 people in unison)
The corresponding roster move for this trade was more important to me than the trade itself. Castro was an important part of the Giants’ bullpen down the stretch in 2021, as he made his debut on September 7 and appeared in 10 games, not giving up a single earned run in 13.1 innings. However, he hasn’t been able to replicate that in 2022. He only appeared in 2 games at the major-league level, giving up 5 earned runs on 4 hits and 2 walks in 1.2 innings. And down in Triple-A, he has pitched to a saddening 5.57 ERA, 6.03 FIP, and 6.35 xFIP in 29 games. As fun as it was to watch a rookie dominate out of the bullpen during the home stretch of the historic 2021 season, his minor-league stats suggest that this was the right move. Yesterday, the Cubs tweeted that they had claimed him off waivers, and I wish him all the best in the Windy City.
Okay, now let’s talk about the actual trade. 27-year-old Jeremy Walker, whom the Giants traded away, was a 5th-round pick of the Braves in 2016. He actually has some MLB experience, as Atlanta called him up for 6 games in 2019. He had a 1.93 ERA out of the bullpen after being converted from a starter in Double-A earlier in the year, but had significantly higher peripherals, and hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since. The Braves released him after the season, and he was out of baseball until pitching for the River Cats this year. Unfortunately, he fared just as bad as Castro: 6.88 ERA, 5.09 FIP, 5.10 xFIP in 28 games for Sacramento. With those numbers, I have no problem with the Giants trading him.
Ford Proctor is someone who I thought was a pitcher because he has a pitcher-sounding name. But he’s actually a catcher/shortstop/second baseman/third baseman. He was a third-round pick of the Rays in 2018, and has hit the ball well until he got to Triple-A this year. His OPS had risen every year as he moved to higher levels, but it has dropped off from .799 last year to .635 this year. Plus, he has half the home runs he did last year in only 18 fewer games. Maybe the Giants see something in him that they think can bring him back to last year’s success. Or they just wanted a way to get the struggling Walker and Castro out of the system. We’ll see.
Overall, I like this trade. I don’t see any reason to keep Walker in the system with his Triple-A numbers, and Proctor has a
Giants trade 1B/OF Darin Ruf to the Mets for 3B/1B/LF JD Davis, LHSP Thomas Szapucki, LHP Nick Zwack, and RHP Carson Seymour
This was the Giants’ first big trade of the deadline; their first one in which they traded away an MLB-level player. Darin Ruf was one of the best Farhan Finds™. He was a Phillie from 2012-2016 who could never got a full season in the major leagues and whose offensive numbers steadily declined every year. Ruf then played for the Samsung Lions of the KBO from 2017-2019, where he absolutely mashed, putting up a wRC+ of 141, 153, and 149 in his 3 years there and hitting a total of 86 home runs. Prior to the 2020 season, the Giants took a chance on him, hoping he would come close to replicating that success. And he didn’t just come close to it — he did replicate that success. In 2020 and 2021, he had a combined 143 wRC+ and 21 home runs in 157 games. However, he dropped off in 2022 to the tune of a 105 wRC+.
Meanwhile, JD Davis has 101 wRC+ this year, which is also a drop-off from his 130 wRC+ in previous years as a Met (2019-2021). Neither Ruf nor Davis have very good defensive numbers, but both play first base and left field. Additionally, Davis adds the ability to play third base (which Ruf can’t do), and he can serve as a replacement for the injury-prone Evan Longoria or struggling rookie David Villar.
I like this trade a lot for the Giants as well. They swapped Ruf for Davis — two very similar players — and also got three prospects in return. Even if none of the prospects pan out, I still consider this an even trade.
Giants trade Trevor Rosenthal to the Brewers for OF Tristan Peters
Considering the Brewers took on Rosenthal’s contract, and Rosenthal never played a game in the orange and black, the Giants got a prospect for free. However, with how hard-to-watch the bullpen has been lately, I kind of wish the Giants had kept Rosenthal. But all in all, I can’t argue with getting a prospect for free. Great trade. Enough said.
Giants trade C Curt Casali and LHSP Matthew Boyd to the Mariners for RHRP Michael Stryffeler and C Andy Thomas
The Giants traded a catcher and a pitcher for a catcher and a pitcher. However, they also traded two MLB-level players for two minor leaguers. Because of that second sentence, this is the most interesting trade to me.
Albeit in only 41 games, Curt Casali has been an above average hitter in 2022 (101 wRC+), and pitchers love working with him, as shown by his shutout-streak record last year. (Also, it hurts to see 1 of the 10 players in MLB history to be born in my hometown leave my favorite team.) When I heard he was traded, my first thought was that this shows confidence in Joey Bart, and a few minutes later, Farhan Zaidi said pretty much the same thing. Then, a few minutes after that, Joey Bart hit a no-doubt home run.
Just like Rosenthal, Matthew Boyd hasn’t pitched at all for the Giants, and I was looking forward to having another good starting pitcher to help with Cobb, DeSclafani, and Junis all missing starts this year.
Michael Stryffeler is 26 and is still in Double-A, but his K/9 has been hovering around an astounding 14 for his minor-league career, which is definitely exciting.
Andy Thomas, who has maybe the most basic name ever, is in High-A (where he’s spent all of 2022) and has been a great offensive catcher, as he has a 145 wRC+ with 9 home runs in 64 games this year.
This is the one trade where I’ll wait to make a definitive ruling. As it stands right now, I feel weird about the Giants giving up two MLB-level players for two minor leaguers. We’ll see how this trade looks if/when Stryffeler and Thomas get called up.
Deadline as a whole
I don’t think this deadline could be classified as a “buy” or “sell” for the Giants. It’s a little bit of both. In total, they got rid of only one player from their active roster, a rehabbing backup catcher, and two pitchers who never pitched for them. They also replaced that one player from their active roster with a very similar player, plus six prospects. Farhan Zaidi did the “acquiring prospects” part of selling, but I don’t think he hurt the team’s playoff chances by doing that. He is a magic man, and I’m very impressed by his tricks.
Oracle Outsider 