San Francisco Giants: Breaking down the Kevin Pillar trade

The San Francisco Giants have reportedly acquired outfielder Kevin Pillar from the Toronto Blue Jays to help shore up their lackluster outfield. Here’s a quick breakdown of the early-season trade.

The San Francisco Giants wasted little time making some roster adjustments as just a few days into the 2019 season, they have announced a deal to acquire outfielder Kevin Pillar from the Toronto Blue Jays.

Per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, the Giants will send utility infielder Alen Hanson, reliever Derek Law, and minor league pitcher Juan De Paula to the Blue Jays in exchange for the speedy Pillar. Seeing as the Giants have struggled with productivity from their outfielders, this move comes as a pleasant surprise.

Pillar has spent the last six seasons with the Blue Jays after originally being drafted by the team in the 32nd round of the 2011 MLB draft. The 30-year-old has garnered quite the reputation for being a superb fielder throughout his time in the big leagues. Although he has never won a Gold Glove Award, Pillar has previously been named the Wilson Defensive Player of the Year and been given the Fielding Bible Award for his stellar defense in center field.

At the same time, Pillar has never been able to establish himself as a reliable offensive contributor. The California native has a lifetime batting average of just .260 and his career on-base percentage is below .300. Pillar had struggled at the dish throughout Spring Training and has begun the season just 1-of-16 from the plate.

Still, Pillar is likely an upgrade for a Giants outfield that has been amongst the worst in the league for quite some time now. Steven Duggar was a welcome surprise last season and he will likely remain a fixture of the starting lineup. The same goes for newly acquired veteran Gerardo Parra who is expected to remain the every-day starting right fielder.

Pillar will likely step in and be a regular contributor in the Giants outfield alongside both Duggar and Parra, the only question is where he will play. Duggar has been the Giants starting center fielder over the team’s first few games and although Pillar has plenty of experience playing in center, expect him to be moved to left field as he has also played quite a bit there.

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Expect both Connor Joe and Yangervis Solarte to get occasional looks in the outfield as well with the former getting more opportunities than the latter. Although Solarte will likely continue to serve as a utility player for the time being.

With a potential trio of Pillar, Duggar, and Parra, the Giants could have one of the best defensive outfields in the league, even if the offense isn’t all the way there. The Pillar trade definitely gives the Giants an upgrade in the outfield, especially considering they didn’t give up much of value in return.

While it is a shame to lose a fun utility player like Alen Hanson, he, along with reliever Derek Law, had already been designated for assignment days prior meaning that their future with the team was already up in the air.

San Francisco also gave up 21-year-old pitching prospect Juan De Paula and although his numbers have been solid in the lower levels of the minors, he was only ranked as the Giants No. 23 prospect per Prospcts1500.com.

This likely isn’t going to be a ground-breaking move that will push the Giants towards a division title. But at the very least it gives the team a strength in the outfield with their defense and improves a major position of need, even if it’s only marginally.