SF Giants kick off trade season by shipping out longest-tenured player
The Giants announced Sunday night that they had traded outfielder Austin Slater to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for left-handed pitcher Alex Young, with the move coming after the Giants lost their weekend series finale in Cleveland.
Giants fans have been calling for Slater to be removed from the roster for months, particularly after he struggled to start the season. While Slater has improved his numbers since his 3-for-30 start, he’s currently sporting a .200 batting average with just one double and one home run across 90 at-bats — all while young, outfield-capable players like Heliot Ramos, Luis Matos and Tyler Fitzgerald are emerging at the MLB level.
Slater had only ever played for the Giants since making his MLB debut in 2017. He was the only Giant whose time in the big leagues predated Farhan Zaidi, the Giants’ president of baseball operations who took over after the 2018 season. Slater’s departure from the team now leaves his longtime platoon mate Mike Yastrzemski as the longest-tenured Giant.
Slater is the first veteran from the 2024 Giants to be cut loose, but it seems like he might not be the last. The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly mentioned that shortstop Nick Ahmed could be next, and Giants fans on social media have recently been focusing their ire on reliever Luke Jackson whenever he comes into a game.
The Giants, who are 44-47 and sit 3.5 games out of a playoff spot, have until 3 p.m. on July 30 to make any trades to try to improve this team’s chances of making the playoffs for only the second time in Zaidi’s six seasons in charge.
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