ESPN insider Matt Meyers recently released his five trades that should go down before the trade deadline for five NL clubs, and lo and behold, the San Francisco Giants were one of them.
Meyers' proposed trade is for Giants prospect Francisco Peguero for Minnesota Twins All-Star Michael Cuddyer. Now when you put it like that, it doesn't sound like a fair deal; a prospect for an All-Star? But Meyers breaks it down like this:
The Twins need to start looking to the future, and Cuddyer, who's 32 and a free agent after this year, probably isn't a part of it. He's an ideal NL player because he can play first base or right field, as well as second or third in a pinch. Therefore, he would give manager Bruce Bochy a ton of flexibility on double switches. Also, Cuddyer has the extra special veteran glow the Giants so desperately covet.
Peguero, who Keith Law ranked as the Giants' No. 4 prospect in the preseason, missed the first couple of months of the season with a knee injury. The 23-year-old has posted an .849 OPS since his recent promotion to Double-A, and would be a good return for a free-agent-to-be such as Cuddyer.
This deal makes sense on a couple of fronts, but I have questions about it as well. First, the Giants would get another veteran at-bat in the lineup as well as greater lineup flexibility With Cuddyer on the squad. But if Meyers is claiming he's to play first base and right field most often, where does that leave the hot hitting Nate Schierholtz and staple first baseman Aubrey Huff? Not to mention Brandon Belt, who seemingly is always on the verge of a call-up. I think he'd been playing a lot more middle infield unless they decide to get rid of Aubrey Huff of relegate him to the bench.
The Giants and Twins would also be, on paper, sticking to their game plans of not giving up talented pitchers for the Giants (i.e. Zach Wheeler or Andrew Kown) and the Twins will get younger and more talented with the addition of Peguero. But with the lack of depth the Giants have already with their positional players it might behoove them to hang on to guys like Peguero to see if they can blossom into a starting role with the Giants.
All in all, I'm not against the deal; any time you can add an All-Star to your squad more power to you. But a lot of careful consideration would have to be put towards making the right decision by the Giants braintrust before any triggers are pulled.