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Gabe Kapler’s last public words before decision day were an endorsement of the Giants he knows.
Before the club’s front office had to decide a direction at Monday’s 1 p.m. trade deadline, Kapler watched his team improve to 17-19, percentage points back of the Phillies and Rockies for the 7 and 8 seeds in the expanded playoffs.
A fire sale is not coming. Are additions? They could use a lefty-hitting outfielder and a righty bullpen arm. Other clubs could use Kevin Gausman, and Farhan Zaidi and Scott Harris will have to gauge how prized that asset is.
“I like this team,” Kapler said after the Giants’ 4-1 win over the Diamondbacks and before listing individually many of the things he likes. “I really like what Evan Longoria’s been doing in the batter’s box and on defense, been as steady as they come, really consistent at-bats. Been really pleased with Brandon Belt and Brandon Crawford and the strides that they’ve made, they’ve just been so competitive. … I think there are signals that Mauricio Dubon is coming around for us — despite not always having the results, he’s really having better swings in the batter’s box, did a nice job for us out there in center field. I like the way our bullpen is coming together.
“A lot of things have to line up, but I believe in this group.”
The Padres, second in the NL West, have bulked up, including trading for star pitcher Mike Clevinger. Those sorts of blockbusters are not likely for the Giants, who are more likely to target an outfielder to pair with Mike Yastrzemski and Alex Dickerson against righties. (Boston’s Jackie Bradley Jr., the Angels’ Brian Goodwin and Pittsburgh’s Gregory Polanco are possibilities.)
Their bullpen could use another righty arm, although the emergence of Sam Coonrod makes the need less glaring. Still, it’s a lefty-heavy unit, and the Giants could trade from that strength to shore up other parts. Tony Watson and his expiring contract could be moved, and with Jarlin Garcia, Sam Selman and Wandy Peralta still around, it would be more a dent than a void in the pen.
Johnny Cueto admitted he’d wait to see if his phone rings, but a pitcher set to make $21 million next season does not figure to have a robust trade market. The Giants’ winning nine of the 12 games heading into the deadline helped simplify the direction for the front office, which is now looking at a team with a realistic shot at the playoffs.
“It’s definitely difficult. I don’t envy what they have to do as far as deciding or anything,” Dickerson said over Zoom on Sunday. “I know that we’re confident with the group that we have now, and that’s all we can really focus on. If we add somebody new, we lose somebody, still go out and you try to win baseball games and get to the playoffs. We are positioned where we can make that happen.”
Just as everything is weird in 2020, so is the deadline, which is Aug. 31 and not July 31. It’s here after just 36 games for the Giants, who of course will be weighing the same sort of COVID questions they ponder before bringing anyone new into their bubble. If there is an advantage to be traded this year, Watson recently pointed out, it’s that a player doesn’t have to move his family with him.
“I don’t think anybody’s talked about it at all,” Dickerson said of the deadline. “It snuck up on us so fast, and we’re just concerned about showing up and playing good baseball, which we’ve been doing for a majority of this [run]. The trade deadline’s something you just can’t control, and really the lead-up, there hasn’t been enough time to talk about it like in past years. … We’ll see how it goes.”