Neville E. Guard-USA TODAY Sports
PHILADELPHIA — Trading away much of his bullpen was an endorsement of the Giants’ pipeline from Farhan Zaidi.
Trading for a second baseman ready to play now and a second baseman who may be ready to play next season is an indictment of Joe Panik.
The Giants traded for Scooter Gennett for a player to be named later or cash Wednesday from Cincinnati, a veteran middle infielder who can help right away. In a separate deal, they brought in Milwaukee second baseman Mauricio Dubon — the Brewers’ third-ranked prospect — for Drew Pomeranz and Ray Black.
If Gennett is the answer this year and Dubon, 25, possibly next, what happens to Panik?
Bruce Bochy said he talked with Panik shortly after the trade deadline, telling him, “We’re taking it day to day right now,” Bochy said.
The Giants will have to make a roster decision when Gennett joins that 25-man roster likely in Colorado on Friday. Donovan Solano is the other infielder made expendable, but Solano also plays shortstop and is a righty. Gennett, like Panik, is lefty.
The 29-year-old Gennett, who was an All-Star last season, has missed much of this season with a groin issue. In 20 games since returning, he’s slashing .212/.232/.258.
Panik, meanwhile, has been a weak link on a surging team, his little pop disappearing and slashing .231/.305/.312.
Panik has one more option, yet because he’s had more than five years of service time, he would need to accept being sent down.
“We’re going to have to kind of take it day to day,” echoed Zaidi on “Tolbert, Krueger & Brooks.” “That’s the most honest I can be right now. We’ve got Scooter probably joining up with a team this weekend in Colorado. At this point we’ll have to make a roster move. Solano’s versatility, the fact that he can play all over the infield kind of eases the logjam a little bit, but even having two guys that are primarily second basemen might be tough, but not impossible.
“We’ll see when we get to that point. Again, I think for us having those guys and knowing that it’s a little bit of a roll of the dice with Scooter because he’s played so little this year and hasn’t put up the numbers he did in the past.