San Francisco Giants: Breaking down new infielder Mauricio Dubon

The San Francisco Giants traded away veteran pitchers Drew Pomeranz and Ray Black on Wednesday in exchange for middle infielder Mauricio Dubon.

The San Francisco Giants got their trade festivities underway on Wednesday with their first of a collection of trade-deadline moves when they dealt pitchers Drew Pomeranz and Ray Black to the Milwaukee Brewers for middle infield prospect Mauricio Dubon.

While the Giants were reportedly shopping plenty of their pitchers ahead of the deadline, few would have expected the team to find a trade partner for Pomeranz.

Let alone a trade partner willing to give up as much as the Brewers did.

Pomeranz had struggled to a 5.68 ERA in 21 games this season but had been pretty impressive in his four bullpen outings so far. Still, the 30-year-old has been a disappointment each of the last two seasons so the Brewers are clearly hoping that things change.

The Giants also dealt the 29-year-old Black who had spent the vast majority of the season pitching in Triple-A Sacramento. Given his age and lack of MLB success, it’s fair to assume that Black will be a fringe Triple-A/MLB bullpen arm for the remainder of his career.

But the real talk of this trade — at least from the Giants perspective — should be the newly-acquired Dubon. Dubon is a 25-year-old middle infield prospect with very little MLB experience, but he ranked shockingly high in Milwaukee’s farm system.

The native Honduran was actually ranked as the Brewers’ No. 3 prospect which is an incredible return for Pomeranz and Black. Stunningly impressive at that.

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Dubon has above-average speed, is a smooth fielder, and has a confident approach at the plate that gives him solid potential as a hitter. In 98 games playing with Milwaukee’s Triple-A affiliate, Dubon has been slashing .297/.333/.475 with 16 home runs and 47 RBI.

Of course, this has all been in the notoriously hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, but those numbers are impressive nonetheless. The home-run production is something new for the young Dubon, but analysts seem to believe it’s more a product of the PCL than anything.

Still, Dubon has the potential to be the team’s long-term solution in the middle infield as well an instant contributor if the Giants choose so.

With second baseman Joe Panik struggling, Dubon could be given a look in the majors before the end of the year if the Giants go in that direction. The acquisition of second baseman Scooter Gennett at the deadline clouds these plans, but at least San Francisco has depth at that spot now.

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A return like this is almost unprecedented for what the Giants actually gave up. Farhan Zaidi managed to turn a $1.5 million offseason investment and four solid relief outings from Pomeranz into the No. 3 overall prospect in an organization who plays a position of need.

Oh, and he threw in a 29-year-old minor-league reliever as well.

Not bad for Zaidi’s first move of his first trade deadline with the team.

The Giants have assigned Dubon to Triple-A Sacramento but it shouldn’t be long before we see him get some looks with the major league roster. At the very least, we should see him no later than September when the rosters expand.

Call this one of the steals of the trade season.