San Francisco Giants: McCutchen Gone, Prospects In, Shaw Up

The San Francisco Giants have traded Andrew McCutchen in exchange for a pair of prospects, and are bringing up Chris Shaw.

On the day of the “waiver trade deadline”, the last day for a contender to trade for a player and have them be eligible for the postseason, the San Francisco Giants helped out the New York Yankees with a waiver trade. Outfielder Andrew McCutchen is on his way to New York, and two minor league prospects are heading back to San Francisco.

The Giants made the necessary deal by offloading McCutchen before the final month of his contract. Despite the team’s insistence that they weren’t out of the race, consistent losses on the field told a different story. With the August deadline looming, the Giants decided to look toward the future. They can do that and freely bring up players now without fear of jumping over the luxury cap.

The Yankees also needed this deal. Right fielder Aaron Judge’s wrist has kept him off the field since July 26th and there are questions about his ability to return at all this season, despite the team saying he will assuredly be back. Clint Frazier is also hurt, and the contributions from guys like Shane Robinson and Brett Gardner just aren’t getting it done.

McCutchen will be a free agent at season’s end, so rather than letting him walk with nothing to show for it, they made a deal to get a pair of prospects from New York’s strong system. Infielder Abiatal Avelino and right-hander Juan De Paula are now Giants’ farmhands.

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Avelino is a 23-year-old natural shortstop who has also played sparingly at second base and third base in his career. He’s also played a game in each corner outfield spot. He began this season in AA with the Trenton Thunder, and was named an Eastern League All-Star after crushing a .337/.392/.553 slash-line with 10 home runs and 15 stolen bases in 49 games. He hasn’t hit quite so well after a promotion to AAA, with a .252/.291/.372 line.

De Paula is 20 years old and just spent a successful season in the New York-Penn League. In 10 appearances (nine starts), he pitched to a 1.71 ERA and 1.289 WHIP, holding opponents to a .207/.311/.325 slash-line. Walks were a bit of an issue, with his 4.9 BB/9 being the worst of his four-year career.

Adam McInturff of 2080 Sports posted this brief scouting report and video of De Paula on Twitter:

Avelino was rated as the Yankees’ 23rd-best prospect on MLB Pipeline, while De Paula was number 26. It’s safe to assume they’ll both be ranked higher than that in the Giants’ system.

Those players aren’t going to play a role in September, but Chris Shaw now is. The trade opened up a spot in the outfield, and Shaw is going to be activated. He’ll most likely take playing time in left field, and the left fielders will move over to right field.

Shaw has been one of the Giants’ most exciting prospects for a long time, mostly because he has the type of raw power that the Giants haven’t had in a long time. In Sacramento this year, he hit 24 home runs, his third straight minor league season of at least 20 home runs. This year, however, his average and on-base percentage have both dropped while his strikeout rate has sharply risen.

Still, he will get the opportunity to prove that he can handle big league pitching and, maybe a more pressing question, if he can handle left field at AT&T Park. This September should be all about seeing as much of Shaw as possible.