The Giants had a really nice 4'th inning, not so much the rest of the game in what was essentially a blowout loss.
Joey Bart C capped the 5-run 4'th inning with a 2-run blast to CF. He added a nifty bunt single on what might have been a sacrifice attempt in the 6'th inning. That created a bases-loaded, no-out situation with a chance for the Giants to take the lead. Two K's and a pop up left all 3 runners on base with no runs scored.
Bart continues to show just enough of these offensive flashes to keep hope alive for his MLB catching career. I've said it before and I'll say it again. If Giants can establish Joey Bart as their starting catcher of the future, this season will be a success, no matter where they finish or what their W-L record is.
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The game was really an afterthought to the fireworks of trading deadline day. I don't have time for an exhaustive review. I'll try to catch up over the weekend, but here are my hot takes:
Interesting that FZ admitted the regression of the farm system cost the Giants a chance to trade for Juan Soto OF. At least he was honest about it and now we know the farm system failures has his attention.
Word on the street is Rodon's opt-out scared off potential buyers. That makes sense, and don't forget FZ can get a draft pick compensation for him. FZ does not want the pick so much as the extra bonus slot money. Can't really argue with that since extra slot money in 2020 enabled him to draft Kyle Harrison LHP.
My guess is Joc Pederson OF was all but untradeable due to the concussion. Concussions have ended more than one MLB career and buying teams were not going to risk a prolonged recovery.
The Darin Ruf IF/OF trade was the big surprise. I like the haul they got. J.D. Davis is younger and has 2 more years of contract control. He was one of the RH bats I thought FZ might want to trade for this past offseason. It would have been a decent straight up trade for FZ but the Giants got 3 more pitching prospects in the process. Nice!
Trading Curt Casali C was another surprise. Giants sent him and Matt Boyd LHP to the Mariners(who else?) for pitching and catching prospects. I see this move as a vote of confidence for Joey Bart and getting the two prospects is a bonus.
FZ flipped Trevor Rosenthal RHP for Tristan Peters OF. That he got anything for Rosenthal at all is a near miracle.
FZ essentially used Boyd and Rosenthal to buy a couple of prospects, a familiar trick of his.
Take all this together, FZ was essentially a seller and did about as well as he could under the circumstances although his admission that farm system regression cost him a chance to land Juan Soto is troubling.
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Alex Cobb RHP tries to give the Giants a chance to split the series with the Dodgers tomorrow evening facing Julio Urias LHP.
Read that a scout said JD. Davis and Darren Ruff are the same player but Davis is 6 years younger so I'm good with that trade plus I like that they got 3 pitching prospects also. It's odd that FZ traded 3 players on the IL Casili, Boyd, and Rosenthal but got a lottery ticket for each. Nice! Your Rodon explanation makes sense regarding why FZ didn't trade him.
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