San Francisco Giants and Marlins Could Make Good Trade Partners
According to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, the San Francisco Giants have shown interest in re-uniting with former first baseman and left fielder Michael Morse.
Morse was a big part of the Giants’ early season success in 2014, when the team found themselves as many as 22 games over .500 at one point. Morse batted close to or over .300 for a lot of the first half, and came through with a lot of big hits when the team needed him to.
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The big man was slowed in the second half by an oblique injury, but made his presence felt in the postseason. In game five of the NLCS against the St. Louis Cardinals, Morse hit a pinch-hit home run in the eighth inning off All-Star set-up man Pat Neshek, tying the game at three. That home run was overshadowed by Travis Ishikawa‘s career-defining home run in the ninth inning, but things might have been very different if not for Morse’s big fly.
In World Series game seven against the Kansas City Royals, Morse drove in San Francisco’s first run with a sacrifice fly in the second inning. In the fourth inning, with the scored tied at two, he blooped a single into right field to drive in a run. That run proved to be the game-winner, as the Giants took home the Commissioner’s Trophy with a 3-2 win.
In just one short season, Morse captured the hearts of Giants’ fans, an honor which he still holds. Sentiment says the Giants should bring Morse back. The roster, however, says differently.
The Giants have been rolling with a 13-man bullpen for most of the season. With the short bench that comes with the extra man in the bullpen, the team needs as much versatility as it can get out of their extras. Martin Prado is the picture of versatility, and should be on the Giants’ radar as the trade deadline nears.
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On the Giants, Prado would become the immediate backup at every infield position, providing an upgrade over Joaquin Arias and Ehire Adrianza. Although Prado has played mostly third base this year (he made a start at second base on Friday, his first game outside of third this year), he has experience at nearly every position on the diamond. He’s played 477 games at third base, 263 at second, 56 at first base, and 16 at shortstop.
Prado can also play the outfield, having 256 games of experience at left field, and nine in right field. In the span of one week, Prado could spell Matt Duffy at third base, Joe Panik at second, Brandon Crawford at short, and Nori Aoki in left. That kind of versatility is exactly what a short bench needs.
Prado’s bat would be a huge upgrade on the Giants’ bench, becoming the team’s best late-inning pinch-hitting option. He’s a career .290 hitter, and has good gap-to-gap power, hitting over 35 doubles in four seasons. This year, he’s batting .272 with 11 doubles, a triple, four home runs and 24 RBI. He’s also a career .302 (16-53) pinch-hitter. Prado is a smart hitter with great contact ability, and is a very good situational hitter. He has no problems moving runners over.
By comparison, Arias is a .265 hitter in his career, but that number is down to .244 since the start of 2014. He has very little power to speak of, with a .296 slugging percentage over the past two seasons, and .281 this year.
Adrianza has struggled to find his footing in limited time at the Major League-level, hitting .228 in 70 games over parts of the past three seasons.
Although Prado has an opening in the Marlins’ lineup right now at second base, that opening is short-lived, as All-Star Dee Gordon is expected to be back from the disabled list before the trade deadline. He has a dislocated thumb, suffered sliding head first into first base on July 11th, and the team hopes he will only miss two weeks. If Gordon does come back in that time, Prado could be made expendable, as the infield is full otherwise, and the team has younger infielders they want to play.
If the Giants can find a way to pick up Prado, he would make a weak bench that much better. His ability to play nearly every position would allow the team to continue using a 13-man pitching staff. One of the Giants’ biggest needs is on the bench. Prado would help that need immensely.