The San Francisco Giants traded for Andrew McCutchen as they thought they could contend for the postseason in 2018.The Giants mildly contended, but for the most part, hung around the .500 mark and nearing the deadline for making waiver trades, did what teams that aren't contenders should do- move players that they can't or won't be keeping for the next season.
The Giants traded Andrew McCutchen to the New York Yankees in return for two minor leaguers- shortstop Abi Avelino and pitcher Juan DePaula.
McCutchen hit .255 with 15 homers and 55 RBI with the Giants and despite numbers that show McCutchen to possibly be in decline, please remember that AT&T Park is definitely a pitcher's park so it would not surprise me to see McCutchen do well with the Yankees in a league that he would be new to playing.
The Giants aren't getting top prospects in return, but both players were in Baseball America's Top 30 in the Yankees system.
The 23 year old Avelino looked to be just another organizational soldier entering the 2018 season for his third stint (Avelino had spent parts of 2016 and 17 there) at AA Trenton before a career season that re-ignited prospect status for the Dominican native.
Avelino hit .337 with 10 homers (both career highs) with 15 steals in 49 games with the Thunder before a promotion to AAA Scranton, where he hit .252 with 5 homers along with 10 steals for the Yankees in 74 games.
The AAA numbers were more in line with his numbers over the course of his minor league career, although the power was increased as his previous high for homers in a season was six and he hit five in AAA alone.
The increase makes Avelino a bit more intriguing, but the sudden numbers leap under the circumstances give me some pause to consider Avelino a true prospect as of this writing.
Avelino was assigned to AAA Sacramento to finish the last few games of the season and I'm not sure if he will be included in the September roster expansion or not.
Whenever you are trading and receive a young Latino pitcher that is toiling in the low minors, one has to realize that you are buying a lottery ticket.
It's a long shot mainly because young pitchers from outside the U.S. often do not have the statistical base to consider them as prospects or not.
The data to help determine that status will eventually arrive, but it isn't always available to decide when you are making the deal.
The Giants acquired one of these young unknowns from Boston last year in Gregory Santos in a trade that sent Eduardo Nunez to the Red Sox and they are returning to that well with Juan DePaula in this deal with the Yankees.
The soon to be 21 year old DePaula has spent the last two seasons with the Yankees short-season affiliate in Staten Island and pitched well enough looking at the 2017 stats (5-5 2.90 and an opposing batting average of .191 in 11 starts) that one would think that he deserved a full season assignment to their Low A team in Charleston for 2018.
That did not arrive (Perhaps he was injured?) and he was 2-2 with an ERA under two in nine Staten Island starts.
The 6'3 165 pound DePaula was obtained by the Yankees from Seattle in 2016 in a trade for Ben Gamel, works in the low 90's and used the curve and change from reports.
In other words, don't bet on him, but there is some upside there if the ticket comes in.
Trades like this take a while to sift through, so the results are unknown for now, but the Giants should have been doing more of these deals to bolster a less than strong farm system.
I still have a look waiting at the Pirates trades at the deadline and the Browns roster shuffling as well before we resume the road trip series...
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