Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
PHILADELPHIA — Farhan Zaidi used the word “endorsement” multiple times, insisting trading from the bullpen was the calculated gamble the team had to make.
One of the top bullpens in baseball is down three key cogs and a fourth swingman, so the test it is now facing is not the type you can just cram for.
When all the dust had settled, Zaidi’s battery drained and Madison Bumgarner saw it was 4 p.m. on the East Coast, he and Will Smith were still Giants. The Giants did not sell the farm, but they did auction off the farm’s most attractive feature (a pig-pen?).
The Giants were not sellers, but they were not exclusively buying for now. A quick rundown:
— Sam Dyson to the Twins for RHP Prelander Berroa, OF Jaylin Davis and RHP Kai Wei Teng.
— Mark Melancon to the Braves for RHP Daniel Winkler and RHP Tristan Beck.
— Drew Pomeranz and Ray Black to the Brewers for IF Mauricio Dubon.
— A player to be named later or cash to the Reds for Scooter Gennett and cash considerations.
— LHP Jacob Lopez to the Rays for OF Joseph McCarthy.
A further rundown: One of the Giants’ key relief pieces in Dyson is gone. Another contributor in Melancon is out the door, though the fact Atlanta is picking up his full contract — he’s due $14 million next season — is shocking. Another reliever who has been surging, Pomeranz, is no longer here.
“The bullpen was an area of depth for us,” Zaidi said on a conference call Wednesday, after all the trade-deadline fun was finished. “…There was a lot of demand for our relievers.”
Waiting in the wings will be minor league standouts such as Sam Selman, Melvin Adon and Andrew Suarez. Zaidi believes in the depth to the point he couldn’t turn down the returns, which may or may not help this season. The ones best positioned to contribute soon, Zaidi said, are Davis, Dubon, McCarthy and Winkler, all who will report to Triple-A.
The one best positioned to contribute now is Gennett, of whom Zaidi referenced his “All-Star pedigree.” He was in the Midsummer Classic last season, but has missed all but 20 games this season due to a groin injury. In the limited span, he’s batting .212.
As a lefty-hitting second baseman, Gennett’s arrival will immediately put Joe Panik’s roster spot in jeopardy.
“It’s day to day right now,” with Panik, Bruce Bochy said before the Giants played the Phillies. The manager spoke with his longtime middle infielder to tell him to hang in there.
Change is here. It wasn’t the franchise-altering decisions that would have come a month ago, but the Giants front office sent a message to the team: We believe in you and your bullpen depth. It’s a tall order to keep playing well while your best unit was just decimated, and Dyson, especially, is not easily replaced.
“We value the present,” Zaidi said. “We have a lot of faith in this group to keep playing well.”