Scouting the Trade Deadline: Outfielders

Outfield is one position where the Giants might be interested in making an acquisition before the trade deadline.  Now, the Giants actually have plenty of OF's and their recent success on the field and production from Mac Williamson and Jarrett Parker will likely make them less interested in making a big splash trade. If they have a need, it is for a specific type of player, namely a RH hitting left fielder with power.  Needless to say, those don't grow on trees, but there are a few interesting names that might be available.

First of all, my criteria for teams being definite sellers is 10 or more games out of the Wild Card race.  There are currently just 3 teams that fit that description:  Twins, Braves and Reds.  There are 8 additional teams 5 or more games out of the WC race which I would consider possible/probable sellers: Rays, Angels, A's, Phillies, Brewers, Padres, Pirates and D'Backs.  Let's break it down and see who might be available from each team.

Twins:  Robbie Grossman.  Grossman is a switch hitter batting .294 with 5 HR's in 100+ AB's this year.  He could probably be acquired fairly cheaply, no frontline prospects, but he's more of a bat off the bench kind of player and not a clear upgrade on what the Giants already have.

Braves:  Nick Markakis.  Good player, but bats left-handed and does not hit for much power.  Giants have plenty of those already.

Reds:  Jay Bruce.  Bruce has power, but it's left-handed and would it play in AT&T?  He's also a terrible fielder.  Reds would also be looking for at least one frontline prospect in return.

Rays:  Desmond Jennings.  Bats RH, but hitting just .182 so far this year and his career seems to be in rapid decline.  Unlikely there is any upgrade here.

Angels:  The only OF the Angels have worth acquiring is Mike Trout and in the extremely unlikely event he is available, there are other teams that have higher ranked prospects to deal.

A's:  Khris Davis is an intriguing possibility.  He's got the power.  Not a great LF but would be passable for 3 PA's per game and Bochy has tons of experience subbing in defensive replacements in the late innings.  Josh Reddick is also a possibility, but bats LH.

Phillies:  Cody Asche and Peter Bourjos are more 4'th and 5'th OF types.  No upgrade here.

Brewers:  Ryan Braun.  This is the big kahuna of the trade deadline.  He's not a great defensive OF, but the bat more than makes up for hit.  He bats RH for both average and power.  He does come with considerable baggage and is in the first year of a 5 year/$100 M contract that will almost certainly be terrible before it's done.  There is also the question of whether the Brewers would trade him even if they fall completely out of the race.  They would almost certainly be looking for 2-3 frontline prospects in return.  There would be other teams interested who probably have more attractive prospects to trade.  Personally, while I would continue to root for the Giants and be happy for any help Braun provided, I would have a hard time rooting for him as a person or individual player.  For that reason, I kind of hope they don't trade for him.

Padres:  Melvin Upton Jr, Jon Jay, Matt Kemp.  Upton Jr would be the obvious target here.  Jay is too much like what the Giants already have.  Kemp can still hit a little, but is expensive and looking more broken down every day.  Upton Jr. has both power and speed and is a better defender than Kemp, but doesn't exactly keep the line moving.  Not sure either team wants to trade within the division.  Since the Giants would be the team giving up prospects, they might be the ones who most not want to do that.

Pirates:  Talk of the Pirates trading Andrew McCutchen has sprung up.  Given what 'Cutch means to that team, I doubt it happens even if they fall completely out of the race.  In addition, the Giants would be looking for help right away and McCutchen has a bad hand.  He would have to prove that's healthy to make this an attractive deal for the Giants.

D'Backs:  I don't see any OF's on their roster they would be looking to trade.

In summary:  I think the most likely outcome is the Giants don't trade for an OF.  I'll put a trade for Khris Davis as #2 most likely and Upton Jr as #3 with Ryan Braun a longshot, but that would be a blockbuster and a sign the Giants are out for world domination.