Promo Reel

While the news may have been coming for a few days now (and even longer if you believed the rumors as of one week ago), it’s now official that third baseman Pablo Sandoval is returning to the San Francisco Giants.

Though San Diego and San Francisco entered Friday’s game a combined 36 games under .500, scouts from contending ballclubs were on hand to file reports on whether any of the two teams’ assets were worth picking off at the trade deadline. So while a game featuring two teams in a heated battle for fourth-place might not move the needle for many on a mid-summer Friday night, the pitching matchup between Trevor Cahill and Jeff Samardzija, a pair of trade candidates, kept the game in the news cycle.

A week after former Giants’ third baseman Pablo Sandoval was designated for assignment by the Boston Red Sox, the Panda has cleared waivers and is now free to sign with any Major League team.

The Cavaliers’ point guard has requested to be traded to find a bigger role, according to a report. New York, Miami, San Antonio and Minnesota have emerged as preferred landing spots for the 25-year-old.

Madison Bumgarner has won at least 13 games for the San Francisco Giants in each of the last six seasons. It’s July 20, and Bumgarner is still searching for his first ‘W’ in 2017.

If he’s postseason Panda, the Giants add a much-needed bat to a mostly toothless line up. If he’s overweight, unmotivated Panda, the Giants move on, nothing lost but a few at bats which would have gone to players who have proven they don’t deserve the plate appearances anyway this season.

Perhaps the only crime a pitcher can commit that’s worse than throwing an 0-2 pitch down the middle is walking the opposing pitcher. And in the top of the third inning on Wednesday, Giants’ right-hander Matt Cain did both.

Pablo Sandoval’s exit from the Giants following the 2014 season is notorious for many reasons, but particularly because he blasted former teammates and severed relationships on his way out of town.

Count manager Bruce Bochy as one person who believes in what this team can do. On Murph & Mac Wednesday morning, Bochy addressed the big-picture status of his squad, and he said he has faith that just some minor tweaks could put the Giants right back in contention next year.

A night after it was San Francisco’s defense that stood in the way of a potential series-opening victory against the Cleveland Indians, a pair of late-game web gems kept the Giants in contention.