Fans of Giants are now in a strange place. They believe in annual magic with every win, especially since MLB expanded their playoffs for the 2020 season. With each loss, however, they seek designer perspectives as they throw their tables and beg to summon Joey Bart.
After three straight losing seasons, some fans lose their patience. Fandom is a balanced act. Of course they want to win, but fans also know that the Giants have one of the best pitching systems in baseball and the future is now the main focus. That’s what Farhan Zaidi was introduced to.
When the Giants hired Zaidi as their president of baseball operations prior to last season, the goal was to help him compete in the present and build a candidate in the future. Zaidi found his hidden gem in Mike Yastrzemski last year, and early this early season he has already shown how creative he can be in swindling other teams. He did just that at the Winter Meetings by adding infield prospect, and former draft pick for first-round pick, Will Wilson. In a span of August to start from August, Zaidi traded virtually nothing to add two top-30 prospects to the San Francisco system.
Sunday’s acquisition of 23-year-old Chicago White Sox outfielder Luis Basabe for just casho considerations is the latest example of Zaidi’s creativity.
The White Sox originally got Basabe from the Boston Red Sox in their Chris Sale blockbuster trade. All it took for the Giants was an unknown amount of money. Basabe dealt with a long list of injuries and disappointments last season, hitting just .246 with three homers and a .660 OPS in Double-A. However, its potential is unintended.
“I think this makes Farhan and Scott so good at what they do,” manager Gabe Kapler told reporters Sunday morning. ‘To bring in a man who immediately enters our top prospect list without giving back too much. Basabe has been modified. This is a man with arm strength and speed. ”
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Basabe showed off these tools in the 2018 All-Star Futures Game when he hit a 102-mph fastball from Cincinnati Reds prospect Hunter Greene and fired a two-run explosion.
The Giants traded for Luis Basabe. Two years ago, he smashed a two-run homer from a 102-mph fastball in the Futures Games pic.twitter.com/JwMIIaj0kI
– Dalton Johnson (@DaltonJ_Johnson) August 9, 2020
“A real ceiling, so he’s an exciting addition to our system,” Kapler also said of Basabe, a powerful switch-hitter.
The Basabe deal came exactly a week after Giants outfielder Billy Hamilton sent the New York Mets for pitching prospect Jordan Humphreys. Zaidi and Co. turned out to be a veteran who probably could not play any time in the time what Kapler calls “a real perspective”.
Humphreys, 24, has a 2.60-career ERA in the minors and comes from Operation Tommy John. He went 10-1 with a 1.79 ERA in 2017, made two starts last season and set up in the Arizona Fall League. It seems likely that he will help this year, although he could certainly in 2021.
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When the Giants acquired Humphreys, he was the Mets’ no. 14-prospectus. He now comes in at no. 26 for the Giants, according to MLB Pipeline. Basabe was the 11th best prospect of White Sox and is no. 18 for the Giants. That shows just how highly their prospects have been considered, and how much the system has improved in San Francisco lately.
Everyone wants a Joey Bart, a Marco Luciano or a Heliot Ramos. Top prospects are the valued possession of any team – one that becomes a homegrown star with World Series aspirations as the key to getting a superstar. The more depth, the better.
In a span of time, Zaidi has added two perspectives that could make an impact in the very future for a veteran who doesn’t fit the roster and a handful of money. The Giants are still waiting for their superstar. Zaidi’s creativity certainly helps in the meantime
