© Peter Aiken | 2018 Jul 3
The Los Angeles Dodgers, already favorites to win the NL West, made a splash on Wednesday, landing All-Star shortstop Manny Machado in a trade with the Baltimore Orioles.
At the break, the Giants (50-48) sit four games behind the Dodgers for first place in the division, and behind the Diamondbacks and Rockies by 0.5 and two games respectively. With a run differential of -26, it seems more likely than not that the Orange and Black are going to have a hard time making the playoffs as currently constructed.
Still, Giants beat writer Andrew Baggarly doesn’t think the club will look to make a trade to combat the Dodgers’ acquisition of Machado. He did, however, throw out a player San Francisco could target at the deadline, when he joined Murph & Mac on Thursday.
“There is a player in Kansas City, Whit Merrifield, who is a little older than you might think, he’s pushing 30, and I don’t think that his return is going to be as bowl you over as some people are making it out to be,” Baggarly said. “He’s a guy whose salary could fit, and he could really help as a second baseman and an outfielder who can float around. If there’s anyway that they can pry him away I think that they’d be thrilled to do that, I just don’t know if you think of Marrifield as an impact move or a counter move, but that’s probably the best case scenario if the Giants could find a way to get him.”
The Giants could certainly use infield help, especially with second baseman Joe Panik likely to miss at least the next two weeks. Merrifield, 29, has spent all of his three major league seasons with the Royals, and is having a career year in 2018, posting a slash line of .307/.378/.434.
Baggarly then went on to point out that it hasn’t been the Giants’ MO to make big moves at the trade deadline over the past decade.
“I think that if you look at the two biggest splashes they made at the deadline, one was the year that they didn’t make the playoffs, which was Carlos Beltran for Zach Wheeler, who was a number one pick they did really like and they knew that was a big price to pay. And they saw that as an opportunity to win back-to-back World Series for the first time since the Reds did it in the 70s by an NL team. You just don’t have that opportunity very often, and they got a player in Carlos Beltran who was the postseason performer. It didn’t work out obviously but that was to me the big, big shot they took at the deadline.
“The Hunter Pence deal was a big deal too and they got Marco Scutaro as well, but then you look at the other deals that they’ve made to help in ’10, those deals weren’t huge. They ended up being impact moves for Javier Lopez and trading John Bowker away. Or you look at a (Pat) Burrell or (Cody) Ross that you picked up for nothing. Even in ’14 they didn’t really do a whole lot to change their roster around so, I don’t see the Giants making a counter move here. I don’t see them doing anything that’s going to put them over that CBT (Collective Bargaining Tax).”
Listen to the full interview below. To hear Baggarly on the Giants at the deadline, start from 7:00.