I have to admit that this one surprised me. Yesterday was the action day for Steven Duggar. His rehab assignment had reached its maximum allotted days and he had to be either returned to the 40-man or removed from it. The longtime Giants’ prospect, whose career has been stalled and derailed by injuries and swing and miss issues, was the fifth most valuable position player by Fangraphs’ WAR on the 2021 Giants team — his best year to date. I had thought that an easy way to return him to the 40-man would be to waive recently acquired Yermin Mercedes and sign him to a minor league deal once he had cleared. Mercedes, a 29-year-old right-handed DH type was a somewhat confusing fit on the Giants (as Alex Pavlovic noted when he was acquired), and it would be reasonable to assume he would clear waivers since he had just passed through the other 29 teams last week when the Giants claimed him.
The Giants instead found an opportunity to exchange Duggar for another left-handed bat whom both Farhan Zaidi and Gabe Kapler are very familiar with from their days with the Dodgers: Willie Calhoun. The left-handed swinging Calhoun was considered an elite hitting prospect coming up through the Dodgers’ system, but since going to Texas in the Yu Darvish deal, he’s had less major league success than anticipated. He did hit 21 home runs in 2019, and seemed on the verge of a breakthrough prior to being hit in the face with a pitch. But even that year he was essentially a replacement level player by WAR’s calculation due to his defensive limitations (which are extreme). Nonetheless, Zaidi and Kapler are excited to have him join the organization and, because Calhoun was recently DFA’d and outrighted by Texas (a move that disgruntled Calhoun greatly), he does not have to be added to the Giants’ 40-man — so they were able to exchange a 40-man spot for a non-40-man player with potential major league value.
Nonetheless, I’ll admit being taken aback by the move, which would seem to continue a worrisome trend by this front office of devaluing defense as a priority. Hopefully, this is a classic “change of venue” deal and both players will be better off for it in the long run.
One last thing: this deal also closes the books on the Giants’ 2015 draft. No member of that draft remains in the organization at this point. Duggar’s 1.7 career fWAR leads that draft class — which also included Phil Bickford, Chris Shaw, and Andrew Suarez — in career productivity so far.
For today’s Trivia Quiz: two members of the 2016 draft still remain in the organization — without looking, can you guess who they are?
HITTER of the Night: Lazaro Morales (DGIO): 5 for 5, 2b (3), 2 Runs
PITCHER of the Night: Matt Frisbee (Rich), 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
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