The longest-tenured Big did not make it again to San Francisco from their newest street journey.
Outfielder Austin Slater was dealt to the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday night time in trade for left-hander Alex Younger, a reliever who made 24 appearances for the Giants in 2022 however has been optioned to Triple-A Sacramento. The Giants despatched an undisclosed sum to the Reds together with Slater, who’s due $4 million this season.
Slater is the final holdover from a earlier regime, though he thrived when put in a platoon function below Farhan Zaidi and Gabe Kapler. He was notably efficient in the course of the 107-win season in 2021, posting a .894 OPS in opposition to lefties and hitting 4 pinch-hit homers, however this season has been a battle.
Slater had elbow surgical procedure final October and was battling again many of the spring. He was simply 5-for-39 earlier than occurring the IL in Might, and whereas the manufacturing has been higher since he returned, he nonetheless has not hit lefties at something near his earlier fee. General, he has a .202 common and .581 OPS with only one homer. In opposition to lefties, he’s batting simply .174, making him a troublesome match alongside Mike Yastrzemski and Michael Conforto within the nook outfield spots.
The uncommon early-July commerce alerts that the Giants are able to additional decide to Luis Matos, a 22-year-old who has seen inconsistent taking part in time. Matos began simply two video games on the street journey however now could be in line for added reps. The Giants additionally doubtlessly made it simpler to convey gamers off the 60-day IL, one thing they must do at the very least twice this month for Robbie Ray and Alex Cobb.
Drafted in 2014, Slater performed 592 video games for the Giants over eight years. He was outspoken in his assist of the town of San Francisco after some points in free company lately, and he additionally served because the group’s MLBPA rep for a number of years, serving to information the Giants and MLB by way of the pandemic and a lockout. Slater now serves in a management function for the MLBPA.
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