San Francisco Giants Rumors: Team Looking For Help At Third Base?
By Kevin Saito
When the San Francisco Giants signed Casey McGehee this past offseason, they believed they were replacing the offensive production lost when Pablo Sandoval opted to sign with the Boston Red Sox as a free agent. And given his performance in Miami last year – .287 BA, .355 OBP, 76 RBI’s, and 177 total hits – it’s understandable why they signed him.
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To paraphrase that old saying goes though, “man plans, the baseball gods laugh.”
McGehee, batting a very Mendoza-esque .200, with a .254 OBP, two home runs, and nine RBI’s – with four of those RBI’s coming on one grand slam against his old Marlin’s squad. Oh, and McGehee also lead the Majors in double play balls with twelve.
Needless to say, McGehee didn’t provide the sort of production the Giants were looking for, nor the sort of production they believed they’d be getting when they signed him.
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So it was somewhat of a mild surprise when they designated McGehee for assignment following a recent double header against the Colorado Rockies. With McGehee’s reassignment, that opened the door for Matt Duffy to become San Francisco’s everyday third baseman.
Speaking about Duffy, Giants’ manager Bruce Bochy said:
"“As his playing time has picked up, he’s playing well. Last year he handled himself so well with everything we threw at him. This is a tough kid that’s doing very well. I think he’s earned this playing time, to be honest.”"
Though Bochy went on to say that he sees Duffy as San Francisco’s “everyday third baseman right now,” that doesn’t mean the Giants are done tinkering with their roster. Especially if Duffy struggles at all in his role as the Giants’ everyday third baseman.
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Though San Francisco’s biggest division rival – the Los Angeles Dodgers – have outspent them, by far, in bringing in the “top talent,” the Giants find themselves battling with their Southern California counterparts and are locked in a tight race for the division lead. So you can expect that Brian Sabean and company will be looking to upgrade the talent on their roster, or just add a little depth for a stretch run.
Despite the fact that Duffy is currently batting .301 with a .333 OBP, has hit three home runs and collected twenty-two RBI’s there are plenty of rumors floating around suggesting that the Giants are still looking for another third baseman.
Speculation a couple of weeks ago suggested that the Giants were interested in Texas Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre. With the Rangers falling further and further out of contention in the AL West, it makes sense that they will be sellers come the trade deadline.
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But after seeing Sabean taking in a Mets-Nationals game at Citi Field recently, some talk has cropped up that Sabean was targeting Mets’ infielder Daniel Murphy – though that talk has apparently cooled because of the Mets’ own injury and infield depth issues.
However, according to ESPN Insider Jim Bowden, the Giants are now believed to be taking a look at possibly dealing for Oakland A’s third baseman Ben Zobrist or Aramis Ramirez of the Milwaukee Brewers.
Of the two mentioned by Bowden though, San Francisco is believed to be higher on Zobrist. The A’s third baseman was just activated from the disabled list, having spent a month on the shelf following knee surgery. He looks to be getting back into shape, and back to his normal self.
While Zobrist doesn’t have overwhelming power, he owns a career .354 OBP, and can get you some steady hits.
There is also a bit of history there, as the Giants tried to swing a deal for Zobrist when he was still a member of the Tampa Bay Rays. The deal never worked out, but they may get a second bite at that apple. Assuming they want it.
And according to the MLB rumor mill, they just might. Whether they want to acquire Zobrist – or another third baseman like Beltre, or Ramirez – for depth, or because they’re not entirely sold on Duffy just yet, is anybody’s guess. At this stage, it’s just a rumor, but one well worth keeping an eye on.