Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports
Farhan Zaidi telegraphed the Giants were seeking a young outfielder with options, and it only took a few hours for the dots to officially connect.
The Giants have found their lefty-hitting outfielder, trading righty Shaun Anderson to the Twins on Thursday for LaMonte Wade Jr.
The 27-year-old Wade has played first base and all around the outfield, including center, in his 42 games of major league experience. He debuted in 2019 and has obvious qualities that the Giants value, including his ability to work pitchers. In his brief MLB time, he has walked 15 times and struck out 18, his .336 on-base percentage far more appealing than the .211 average.
He brings a bit of pop (11 home runs in 495 minor league plate appears in 2018) and some speed (10 steals that year), but his plate discipline is his best attribute. He has walked (303) more than he has fanned (281) in his minor league career.
San Francisco has searched for a potential center-field complement with Mauricio Dubon, who does not hit righties well, the entire offseason and ended up with a trade acquisition rather than free-agent signing. The Giants designated option-less Luis Basabe for assignment earlier Thursday in announcing the Tommy La Stella signing, and now have imported an outfielder with one option left.
It is likely the Giants talked with Jaylin Davis, his former Minnesota teammate, to find out about Wade. It is a certainty they checked with J.P. Martinez, their new assistant pitching coach, who ran the Twins’ alternate site last year. The pipeline from the Reds to the Giants has been well-documented, but the one from Minnesota to San Francisco (which also plucked reliever Matt Wisler from the Twins) is very much alive.
The cost was Anderson, who has flashed excellence since converting to a reliever but not consistently enough. The former well-regarded starting prospect with a mid-90s fastball and power slider struggled mightily with his control last year, walking 12 in 15 1/3 innings but striking out 18 and posting a 3.52 ERA. He would have had a tough time making the Giants’ staff out of camp after they added the righty Wisler and with Reyes Moronta returning this season.