Giants obtain Kevin Pillar

The San Francisco Giants have questions.
A lot of questions, but one of them was addressed yesterday as the team added veteran outfielder Kevin Pillar from the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for three players that weren't in the immediate plans of the tornado vortex that surrounds general manager Farhan Zaidi.

The 30-year-old Pillar hit .252 last season for Toronto with 15 homers, 59 RBI and 14 steals and will earn 5.8 million this season before being arbitration eligible for the 2020 season.
Pillar's bat is average at best, but he's been in double digits in homers in three of his four full seasons and in steals each of the season, so he's not awful, but he's not the type of player that will provide a large jolt of offense to the Giants outfield that is in desperate need of such a player.

What Kevin Pillar does bring is this- a Gold Glove level defender that will flat out cover some ground in Oracle Park (Bear with me, it's going to take a while before that rolls right off the page naturally).
Defense in Oracle's vast outfield is always going to be more important to the Giants than it would be for many other teams and the ability of Pillar to save some runs defensively will be a welcomed addition to a Giants pitching staff that looked behind them in the first week of the season to see Michael Reed (Designated for assignment to make space for Pillar) and Connor Joe in the outfield, which likely did not raise their confidence.

The Giants traded three players for Pillar, minor league pitchers Juan DePaula and Derek Law along with utilityman Alen Hanson.
DePaula was assigned to start the season with low A Augusta after being acquired in last August's Andrew McCutchen trade with the Yankees, while Law was at AAA Sacramento and Hanson had been designated for assignment.
Law had pitched well for the Giants in 61 appearances in 2016, but struggled badly in 2017 and spent most of last season in Sacramento, so a change of scenery might have been best for him.
Hanson, a one time top prospect with the Pirates, appeared to have turned his career around last season with the Giants hitting .252 with eight homers along with being able to play several positions, but with a team that is carrying two rule five players for the season in Travis Bergen and Connor Joe, roster space was at a premium.

Will Kevin Pillar be the answer to contending?
Hardly. but he'll be a defensive help, with an occasional homer, etc and with Gerardo Parra and Steven Duggar will form a strong defensive outfield, if not one that will remind anyone of a good hitting one.
I'm a little disappointed to lose Juan DePaula, but not thoroughly upset, while Derek Law and Alen Hanson were spare parts.
Good for the Giants for at least trying to upgrade a little for the next two seasons and at not a cheap price, but counting on this as a major acquisition or a long-term foundation piece is a bit of a stretch,

Back later with the demise of the AAF and my thoughts on that and the baseball season beginning last night in Altoona.

Fishing for help

Wrapping up 2017 with a few transactions to comment on before they get caught up with the other news.

The Indians signed a few players to minor league contracts/invitations to spring training with two of them being of particular interest to me.
Righthanded-hitting outfielder Melvin (Don't call me B.J.) Upton looks to be receiving one final opportunity to revive a fading career in Cleveland.
Upton might have a chance to fill the spot vacated by Austin Jackson, who is also a free agent, with a strong spring for a team that could use a righthanded bat as a fourth outfielder.
Upton played just 14 games last season- all in AAA with the Giants affiliate in Sacramento, so who really knows what the 33 year old has left, but for the bargain price, Upton is worth a look.

The other interesting Cleveland signing that caught my eye was righthanded pitcher Alexi Ogando.
Ogando notched a 3.94 ERA in 36 games with Atlanta in 2016 and might be an interesting arm to watch as a reliever, but Ogando isn't going to try to make the team in the pen.
Ogando returns to the big time after a season in Korea as a starter and will try to make the back end of the Wahoo's rotation after not making a major league start since 2013.
Ogando posted an ERA of just under 4 in 110 innings in the Korean League.

Meanwhile, on the West Coast, the Giants are collecting their annual drive of faded prospect/AAAA level utility infielders to try to catch lightning in a bottle with as they signed three different players of interest.

The most likely to turn into a player of real usefulness would be Alen Hansen, who as recently as two years ago was considered one of the top 100 prospects in the game.
Hansen split last season between the Pirates, where he hit .193 in 37 games and the White Sox, who claimed him off waivers, where he hit .231 in 69 games.
Hansen has struggled to make contact (52 SO's in 217 AB's) and has been noted to have attitude issues in the past, but can play as many as six positions (not all of them well) defensively, has a little bit of pop (4 homers in those 217 AB's) and plus speed (Nine steals with the White Sox).
Hansen just turned 25 in October, so if any one of these lottery tickets has a chance of being more than the last guy off the bench and developing into a contributor, it would likely be Alen Hansen.

Josh Rutledge joins the Giants after spending the last three seasons in Boston with the Red Sox.
The husband of ESPN's Laura Rutledge was once a reasonably touted prospect with the Rockies and posted decent numbers in platoon play in three seasons before being traded to Boston, where he struggled since.
Rutledge can play three infield positions, but in those three seasons in Beantown, Rutledge has appeared at the plate only 259 times, so what he currently has to offer is really unknown.
Rutledge turns 29 in April, doesn't have the speed of Hansen and doesn't have any more power than Hansen (although by their minor league numbers, I'd grade them about equal as power goes), so I would think anything short of a phenomenal spring is going to send Rutledge to AAA Sacramento.

The final of the three was former Pirate prospect Chase D'Arnaud, who coming up through the Pittsburgh system was looked as an equal prospect to the current Pirate shortstop Jordy Mercer (they were drafted a round apart in the same draft) and has bounced around ever since.
D'Arnaud played 35 games in the big leagues last season between three teams (Atlanta, Boston, and San Diego) with most of those coming as a Padre.
D'Arnaud spent the rest of his year with the Padres AAA affiliate in El Paso hitting .297/4/19.
D'Arnaud can play several positions in a tight spot and will turn 31 in January, so pretty much what you see is what you get.
More than likely, if the Giants want a veteran at the end of the bench, D'Arnaud could get the nod.
It shows that it's winter that I spent all this time on Alen Hansen, Josh Rutledge, and Chase D'Arnaud.

One final note from the hockey world as the Devils had to cut their roster down to 23 before the new year and in order to do trade defenseman Dalton Prout to Calgary to veteran goalie Eddie Lack.
The well-traveled Lack was obtained mainly to give a veteran presence at AHL Binghamton where he was assigned to mentor Devils goaltending prospect Mackenzie Blackwood.
The 29 year old Lack had a GAA of over five in three games with the Flames before being dropped to the Flames AHL affiliate in Stockton.
Prout leaves the Devils with three assists in eighteen games this season.