Grading Zaidi, Putila and the San Francisco Giants front office at the season’s midway point
By Bill Felber
Acquired or traded
The team of Zaidi and Putila have made deals with other teams that brought four major leaguers to the Bay Area for at least part of 2023. None of those four, however, has produced more than a casual impact on the team’s status.
In fact, only one remains in a Giants uniform at the halfway point.
That one is backup catcher Blake Sabol, who came to San Francisco from Cincinnati last December for a player to be named later who turned out to be pitcher Jake Wong. Sabol has seen duty in 62 games for the Giants, producing a .246 batting average and average defensive numbers.
The other three acquisitions — Isan Diaz, Matt Beaty and Cal Stevenson — have all spent much of 2023 waiting for the phone to ring, coming up to the big club when it has, then returning to Triple-A. The exception is Beaty, a journeyman the Giants used for four games then dumped in early June. He’s now employed by the Kansas City Royals.
Zaidi and Putila have moved three players out of the Giants system, and again none were big names. Wong has seen very occasional service with the Reds, while pitchers Gregory Santos and Sam Long went to the White Sox (for a minor leaguer) and Oakland (for cash) respectively. Santos is 2-0 with a 2.36 ERA in 36 relief appearances for the South Side guys; Long has been in 23 games with the A’s.