When the Giants traded for third baseman Evan Longoria, the move left the outfield as one of the team’s last significant holes to fill this offseason. On Thursday morning, it was reported that the Giants are continuing their conversations with the Pittsburgh Pirates for centerfielder, Andrew McCutchen.
Longoria cost the Giants four players — Denard Span, Christian Arroyo, and two other prospects — and it’s expected that McCutchen, who was the 2013 MVP and a five-time All-Star, will come with a similar price tag. Nonetheless, Mike Krukow told Murph & Mac on Thursday morning that the Giants should continue their all-in mentality, even if it means giving up any of their top prospects.
“If you have an organization that goes for it, from a player’s perspective that’s all you want,” Krukow said. “Your best years as a player, you don’t want to waste them in a rebuild. That’s that one thing with an organization that goes for it every year, players don’t need to worry about that.
“Worry about 2019 and 2020 then.”
And thanks to their 98-loss season in 2017, the Giants are well-suited to refuel their farm system in the case that trading for McCutchen takes away several of their top prospects. With the second selection of each round in this year’s MLB Draft, the Giants can restock their farm system without skipping a beat.
“This year they’re going to get some good draft picks,” Krukow said. “You’re going to assume, based on the history of this franchise and the number of players that have come in out of the organization that they’ve raised in their farm and helped win championships, that they’re going to be able to do it again. I say go for it, and if you lose a prospect go get another one.”
Granted, there’s always some hesitation when giving up promising young talent, and a common assumption is that to have a healthy farm system, a team needs Major League-caliber talent overflowing at every level of the minor leagues. However, when Krukow was with the Chicago Cubs from 1976-1981, he once asked the team’s farm director, “if you’re a healthy organization, how many prospects, big-league prospects, do you need to call yourself a loaded organization with prospects?”
His answer: Only five.
“If you have five out of 125 or 130 you’re in a high cot,” Krukow said. “That’s kind of the way it goes. You’ve got one or two players in your system that you forecast to be in your everyday lineup or in your rotation, you’ve got a good farm system.
“You can get well in a hurry. Look at these teams that have been rated in the bottom five of baseball for a few years. Then all of a sudden, you make a few deals and land a couple of young prospects, and we’ve watched organizations do this, then next year you look up and they’re ranked in the top five. That’s how fast that can turn around.”
To listen to the full interview check out the podcast below, and start from the beginning for Krukow on the Giants