San Francisco Giants: Four reasons they’ll make the playoffs in 2018

The Acquisitions of Longoria and McCutchen

In December, the San Francisco Giants made their first big splash of the offseason. They solidified their weakness at third base by acquiring a veteran.

The Tampa Bay Rays traded Evan Longoria to the Giants for Christian Arroyo, Denard Span, and two pitching prospects Matt Krook and Stephen Woods. Not only did the Giants gain a Gold Glove award winner, but they also added a middle of the order bat that they’ve needed over the past few seasons.

Longoria, 32, entered the league in 2008 and made a name for himself right away. Longoria won AL Rookie of the Year with the Rays. In his 10 seasons with the Rays, Longoria became the face of the franchise.

In Tampa, Longoria hit .270/.341/.483 with 261 home runs, 892 RBI and 790 runs. Along with winning RotY, he also took home a Silver Slugger, three Gold Glove awards and made three All-Star teams.

He definitely left his mark in Tampa. Longoria leaves as the franchise leader in games played, hits, doubles, home runs, RBI and walks.

Now in San Francisco, Longoria has the potential to leave his mark there as well. In the midst of a 15-year deal, the third baseman still has five years remaining on his deal.

The San Francisco Giants also made another big move recently. They acquired outfielder Andrew McCutchen from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for pitcher Kyle Crick and minor leaguer Bryan Reynolds. The Pirates also received $500,000 in international slot pool money.

Like the Longoria move shored up the third base spot for the Giants, the McCutchen move gives the Giants an answer in center field. And McCutchen’s another veteran presence added to their lineup.

McCutchen, 31, spent his first nine seasons in Pittsburgh. He played a big part in the Pirates’ recent success and provided a pivotal role in the Pirates’ breaking their 21-year playoff drought in 2013. But the Pirates quickly saw their ship sink and decided selling was the best move, thus making McCutchen available for the Giants.

In his career, McCutchen owns a slash line of .291/.379/.487 with 203 home runs, 725 RBI and 814 runs scored. McCutchen’s made five All-Star teams, won four Silver Sluggers, a Gold Glove and took home NL MVP honors back in 2013.

The outfielder took to Twitter to show his excitement about heading to the city by the bay.

With the two acquisitions, the Giants showed that they are in “win now” mode. The two acquisitions improve the team immensely and will help the Giants aim for October again.