When the San Francisco Giants dealt top minor league pitching prospect Aldaberto Mejia to the Twins in exchange for All-Star third baseman Eduardo Nunez at the trade deadline, it was assumed that the 29-year-old would be a consistent fixture in the Giants’ lineup at least for the immediate future.
However, recent reports that San Francisco has targeted Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner and even discussed the possibility of bringing back Pablo Sandoval, have thrown a wrench in the assumption that the Giants are fully comfortable with Nunez starting the season as their everyday third baseman.
Considering the Giants were willing to trade a prospect for Nunez just a few months ago, this development is a surprising one, especially considering that Nunez is a versatile player coming off the best season of his career, and Sandoval hasn’t been a serviceable MLB player since he left San Francisco. Nunez hit .288/.325/.432 in 2016, while stealing 40 bases and playing solid, at times spectacular, defense at third. Nunez doesn’t become a free agent until next offseason, and is arbitration eligible for the final time this year.
The Giants would also appear to have decent positional depth at the hot corner, with Conor Gillaspie proving to be a more than capable fill in when Nunez went down with an injury late last season. If Nunez had to take over for Brandon Crawford or the oft-injured Joe Panik at short or second base, the Giants could feel comfortable with Gillaspie manning the ship at third. With both Gregor Blanco and Angel Pagan free agents and likely to be heading elsewhere, left field seems to be a much greater positional need, especially considering the incredibly weak free agent group at third base.
The only argument that seems to make much sense for the Giants acquiring a third baseman in free agency, is that they don’t feel like breaking the bank on an expensive outfielder like Yoenis Cespedes or Dexter Fowler, and would rather sign someone cheaper like Turner, and move Nunez to left field. That way the Giants would still improve their lineup – something they must do – and fill their positional vacancy, with Nunez still available as an infield replacement when needed. If San Francisco has only one large contract to give out this year, and will rightly be using that on a closer, this plan makes sense.
Regardless of what the Giants have up their sleeve, it’s hard to believe they are planning a scenario where Nunez isn’t seeing the field on a regular basis. Where he will be playing may have yet to be decided, but the idea of someone like Sandoval being brought in to replace him, just doesn’t make enough sense to be considered a real possibility.