Giants Trade Duffy, Prospects for Moore, Smith in Trades

The San Francisco Giants front office took a massive leap of faith this afternoon just before the August 1st non-waiver trade deadline with a pair of moves to shake up the foundation of the pitching staff.

The front office's first move of the day came around 11:30 in the morning when multiple outlets announced that the Giants would move Andrew Susac and Phil Bickford to the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for the left-handed reliever Will Smith.

When it seemed that the hot stove had peaked around the Giants front, the front office made another bombshell of a move by trading fan favorite and a core piece of the homegrown infield Matt Duffy, along with two prospects in Lucious Fox and Michael Santos.

With these two trades, the Giants addressed two glaring pitching staff discrepancies in the starting rotation and the bullpen, as well as added two strong left-handed arms.

It's a huge boost that the rival Los Angeles Dodgers, who aren't too far behind the Giants in the standings, have had difficulty hitting above-average left-handed pitching.

The introduction of Moore into the rotation not only gives the Giants a second lefty, but also a younger alternative to Jake Peavy and Matt Cain, both of whom are 35 and 31, respectively.

Moore has had to battle injuries in the past two seasons, and he has struggled in his return to the diamond this year, but at the age of 27, the Giants are banking on the lefty making major strides with the orange and black.

Moore is going to have a couple of tools to help out his transition to the city by the bay, as Dave Righetti and Buster Posey are going to be right by Moore's side, and the young lefty is going to make appearances in the most pitcher friendly ballpark in all of baseball.

Moore's first meeting with Joe Panik may be a little awkard, as Moore plunked Panik in the head with a fastball, which ultimately led to the All-Star second baseman missing time with a concussion.

This move signifies that either Cain or Peavy will either be moved to the bullpen, or be designated altogether.

Bruce Bochy will utilize Smith in rotation with Javier Lopez and Josh Osich, both of whom have been inconsistent this season.

These two moves signify that the Giants front office currently has a win-now mentality, as a huge portion of the team's future was dealt away in today's deals.

With most players either in their prime or the twilight of their careers, patience was running low waiting for Cain, Peavy, and a struggling bullpen to figure things out.

The consequence of that impatience was a good chunk of San Francisco's future.

Matt Duffy has been struggling in his sophomore season, both at the plate and with injuries, but he is only 25-years-old and is coming off of a strong rookie season in which he was the runner-up to the National League Rooke of the Year award.

Coincidentally, the last game Duffy played before ending up on the disabled list was at Tropicana Field on June 19th, where he went two for three.

His struggles this season did not come without a little bit of bad luck, as Duffy was hitting the ball hard all season.

Unfortunately for Duffy, a lot of those hard hit balls never found the open ground and resulted in outs.

There is no doubt that Giants fans are taking a hit emotionally, as not only was Duffy apart of the team which won the 2014 World Series, but the San Francisco faithful fell in love with the homegrown third baseman.

His story is well-known around AT&T Park, as coming into the 2015 season, he wasn't even the starter, a backup to then Comeback Player of the Year Casey McGehee.

When Duffy took McGehee's spot, he flourished both at the plate and with the glove, becoming the final piece of San Francisco's homegrown infield along with Brandon Crawford, Joe Panik, Brandon Belt, and Buster Posey.

Then, of course, there's Skeeter, Duffy's Garfield-esque cat who embodied the title of San Francisco's unofficial mascot and the name "Rally Skeeter."

The feline's loveable largeness combined with the internet's stereotypical obsession with cats nearly overshadowed Duffy's play on the diamond, and there is no doubt that Giants fans will miss Skeeter as well.

Losing Duffy is going to sting, but the Giants aren't going to be completely shorthanded.

Last week, the Giants traded for All-Star shortstop Eduardo Nunez, who will most likely be moved to third base.

With San Francisco's former long-term fixture at third base now out of the equation, the path for Christian Arroyo has now opened up.

Nuñez can hold down the fort at third base until Arroyo has developed enough to warrant a call-up to the big leagues, then Nuñez can be used as a super utility player off the bench.

Along with Duffy, San Francisco shipped out Bickford, Fox, Santos, and Susac, who have a combined age of 21.75, with Susac being the oldest of the bunch at age 26.

San Francisco's minor league affiliates only recently acquired Bickford and Fox, with the Giants drafting Bickford and signing Fox. Fox's contract included a $6M bonus.

Santos has made strides this season for San Francisco's Single-A affiliate, posting a 2.91 ERA over 58.2 innings while only walking 0.77 batters per nine innings.

Following the trade, Duffy sent out a message via Twitter thanking the San Francisco Giants for their opportunity while remaining optimistic about his future with Tampa Bay.

"Can't thank the @SFGiants org. and the fans enough for the opportunity to thrive in The City. Endless memories and relationships made that I will never forget. A part of my heart will always be next to @bcraw35 at third base at AT&T park. I'm also extremely excited to start a new chapter with @RaysBaseball, and to help bring a championship to Tampa Bay."

Los Angeles made a big move in their right, swiping Josh Reddick and Rich Hill from the Oakland A's in exchange for prospects.

Reddick, similar to Duffy, was a fan favorite in Oakland, and the right field bleacher creatures will miss his prescence.

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