Yesterday, I wrote about the risks of trading for Andrew McCutchen, but just 24 hours later, trading Kyle Crick and Bryan Reynolds was all the Giants needed to do to get McCutchen from the Pirates in an absolute steal.
This trade pretty much means the Pirates are rebuilding, but I am surprised that they didn’t ask more from the Giants. Even for one year, I would’ve imagined that a deal for McCutchen would’ve required some more top prospects, such as Tyler Beede, Chris Shaw and possibly even Steven Duggar.
However, the Giants only had to give up Crick and Reynolds. Crick was one of the Giants’ top prospects a few years ago, but he was hampered by an oblique injury in 2013, which may have led to the control problems he had shortly after. Crick struggled for a couple of years, and he wasn’t called up until last season. Reynolds, who was ranked by MLB.com as the Giants’ fourth-best prospect last season, likely won’t be ready until at least the start of the 2020 season.
With this trade, the Giants are now poised to contend in what will likely be a four-team race in the National League West this season. McCutchen will play right field and patrol Triples Alley at AT&T Park. Hunter Pence will move over to left, and Steven Duggar might be in line to play center, but now is the time to get greedy.
The Giants are likely looking for an outfielder that they can sign for one year, but as I wrote yesterday, Billy Hamilton and Ender Inciarte would both be worth trading some of the Giants’ best prospects for. They would both be fixtures in the Giants’ outfield for years to come. Hamilton could be risky, because he will be up for arbitration after this season, and he’ll qualify for free agency after 2019.
Inciarte would be ideal, because he has four years and $28.6 million left on his contract, as well as a $9 million club option for 2022. Inciarte will only make $4.7 million this season, which would be perfect for the Giants, who want to remain under the luxury tax threshold. Trading for Inciarte will likely be a long shot, but acquiring him would instantly make the Giants a championship-caliber ball club, and that is why they should look at any possible deal that can bring him to San Francisco.
However, the Giants are in need of some youth in the clubhouse, and going with Steven Duggar in center wouldn’t be the end of the world. He was expected to be given a look at when rosters expanded in September last year, but he missed a significant portion of last season due to a pair of injuries. He was able to come back late last season, as he hit .270 with the High A San Jose Giants and .261 in a short stint with the AAA Sacramento River Cats. He then got off to a slow start in the Arizona Fall League, but he improved as the season went on, and he even had a 12-for-32 stretch towards the end of his season there.
Whether, the Giants go with Duggar, sign a center-fielder, or trade for Hamilton or Inciarte, the acquisition of McCutchen has completely reenergized a Giants’ team that lost 98 games last year. Giants fans—especially those in the Giants’ twitter community—showed their first signs of mass excitement in nine months. The players were even more excited over the news, and Hunter Pence even proclaimed today “CUTCH Day.”
The Giants have two new acquisitions in McCutchen and Evan Longoria, they have a fully-healthy Madison Bumgarner ready to go, and they expect closer Mark Melancon to be back and ready to go by Spring Training. left-handed reliever Will Smith has been ahead of schedule, and he could be back and fully healthy in time to compete for the setup role. If the Giants can stay healthy, this will be a fun season in San Francisco.