Five targets for SF Giants before the MLB trade deadline
On Father s Day the Giants shocked the baseball world by acquiring Rafael Devers from the Boston Red Sox As the July deadline approaches there are still moves for San Francisco to make San Francisco enters the second half with a - record and a roster in need of reinforcements The offense has been below average even with Devers who has gotten off to a slow start The bullpen presently lacks a leverage lefty with Erik Miller on the injured list The rotation has considerably less depth after sending Kyle Harrison and Jordan Hicks to Boston as part of the Devers deal The Giants likely don t have another Devers-esque deal in the cards but they don t need one of that magnitude to improve their association either Here are five players who would make sense for the Giants to target DH B OF Ryan O Hearn Baltimore Orioles O Hearn was a beneficiary of the Devers agreement With Devers no longer in the American League O Hearn became the leading vote-getter among designated hitters in the AL and made the first All-Star club of his career I just wanna shoutout Craig Breslow real quick O Hearn mentioned of the Red Sox s chief baseball officer in June Appreciate you man for helping me get in the standings The Giants rank th in OPS since Devers played his first encounter with San Francisco on June and the organization s first base tandem of Wilmer Flores and Dominic Smith hasn t provided much offensively over the last month Flores still leads the Giants with RBIs but he s hitting since his three-homer battle against the Athletics in mid-May O Hearn who turns on July represents another impact bat He s in the midst of the best season of his career hitting with homers and RBIs Along with the offense his ability to play first base left field and right field would provide manager Bob Melvin with lineup versatility OF Adolis Garc a Texas Rangers The Giants have been one of the worst teams in all of baseball against left-handed pitching Entering the second half San Francisco ranks last in batting average and th in OPS Mike Yastrzemski has an OPS against righties but a paltry OPS against lefties and no right-handed bat has emerged to platoon with Yastrzemski Garc a is much more than a platoon bat but with a career OPS against lefties he certainly stands to help in that department A two-time All-Star Garc a has been a below average hitter the last two seasons OPS but has slugged home runs over the last five seasons tied with Marcus Semien for the th-most league-wide He s an above-average defender with elite arm strength and while his speed has declined he s still capable of turning on the burners when necessary OF Austin Slater Chicago White Sox If the Giants want someone who can hit lefties without giving up too much there s a familiar face on an expiring deal who s playing on the worst squad in the American League Slater who the Giants traded to the Reds midway through last year has bounced back after being riddled by injury last season In games for the White Sox Slater has hit four homers with a modest OPS Against lefties Slater has a OPS this season and a OPS over his career Matt Chapman s OPS against lefties for comparison is the highest mark on the Giants LHP Caleb Ferguson Pittsburgh Pirates With Miller now on the injured list due to a mild UCL sprain the Giants bullpen is without a left-handed reliever who can pitch in leverage situations While All-Star Randy Rodr guez has been excellent against left-handed hitters batting average slugging percentage a leverage lefty would be invaluable in late-game situations Related Articles Former SF Giants executive Bill Neukom dies at Can Devers return to All-Star form in second half Plus more SF Giants second-half questions Robot umpire reverses of challenged calls in first All-Star use of system SF Giants Logan Webb throws scoreless inning Steven Kwan extends MLB All-Star Tournament to historic tiebreaking HR derby MLB boss not ruling out return of second Bay Area association if expansion happens Ferguson has been excellent for the Pirates The left-hander is posting a ERA and FIP over innings in a setup role He s also holding left-handed hitters to a batting average and slugging percentage Along with Ferguson the Cardinals Steven Matz could emerge as an option if St Louis falls out of contention LHP Jos Quintana Milwaukee Brewers The Brewers have too a large number of starters and not enough starts to go around While Quintana has pitched well for Milwaukee ERA it wouldn t be shocking if the Brew Crew decided to part avenues with the veteran left-hander by the deadline Quintana who briefly pitched for the Giants in has quietly been a reliable starter over the last four seasons posting a ERA over innings The -year-old left-hander has a solid track record in the postseason as well with a career ERA and FIP in October
