Once viewed as a non-tender candidate, the San Francisco Giants and outfielder Mike Yastrzemski avoided arbitration in November, agreeing to a $9.25 million deal in his final season.
Yastrzemski, a veteran who’s spent his entire Major League career with the Giants since debuting in 2019, is an excellent professional.
While his numbers typically won’t wow anybody, and he isn’t a star player by any means, he’s a suitable second or third option in the outfield, and there’s value in that around Major League Baseball.
As currently constructed, San Francisco moving on from the Andover, Massachusetts native wouldn’t make the most sense, but if the club starts to struggle, the Giants could look to trade him in the final year of his deal and get back an average prospect or two.
Trading him to a contender could be a way of showing their appreciation for what he’s done for the organization and the city.
Eno Sarris of The Athletic pitched that idea. He proposed a trade scenario that would send the left-handed hitter to the Houston Astros.
“This group could use more of a sure thing. Maybe calling the Giants and asking about Mike Yastrzemski would make sense. As a lefty, he could fit into a platoon with one of the righties, reducing the Astros’ dependence on two iffy right-handed bats to step forward and take the job. Of course, that would ensure that the Astros were north of the first luxury tax apron, and if that’s the case … they might as well sign a free agent at that point, right?”
San Francisco trading with the Astros wouldn’t be ideal regarding a return. Outside of very few prospects, who Houston likely wouldn’t move in a trade for a player of Yastrzemski’s caliber, there isn’t much to love in the Astros farm system.
Leave a Reply