Friday BP: Giants acquire outfielder Dalton Guthrie from Phillies

Happy Friday, San Francisco Giants fans.

The Giants 10-game winning streak may be over after a blowout loss against the San Diego Padres on Thursday night, but they’re still cooking and they’re still rolling. And because they’re the Giants, they’re still churning, too.

San Francisco announced a move on Thursday, as they traded for Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Dalton Guthrie. In return, the Giants are giving out what baseball teams seem to think is the least valuable trade asset, even though I’d rather have it than any player: cash money.

Guthrie was on the Phillies 40-man roster, which means he’ll be on the Giants 40-man roster as well. To make space for him on the 40-man roster, the Giants placed outfielder Mitch Haniger on the 60-day Injured List, which clears a 40-man spot. Guthrie will report to AAA Sacramento.

It seemed obvious that the Giants would make a move, as they hate not having the 40-man roster full. It doesn’t mean that Guthrie will be around for a long time, as the Giants often add players for just a short period ... and at some point they’ll need to clear another spot for Kyle Harrison, and perhaps other youngsters that earn their way to the Majors.

But with Haniger, Heliot Ramos, and Luis González on the 60-day IL, and Mike Yastrzemski banged up after tweaking his hamstring, the Giants needed some outfield depth. They have just four healthy outfielders on the active roster — Luis Matos, Michael Conforto, Austin Slater, and Bryce Johnson — and, prior to adding Guthrie, had no healthy Minor League outfielders who were on the 40-man roster. Which is not exactly a position you want to be in, as it leaves you scrambling if someone gets injured.

Guthrie, a 27-year old right-handed hitter who was a sixth-round pick by the Phillies in 2017, has had a decent year with the Phillies AAA affiliate, hitting .280/.385/.476, good for a 119 wRC+. He had a nice walk rate (11.5%) and strikeout rate (22.9%).

He made his MLB debut in 2022, and played sparingly that year and this year. In 37 pro games, he’s 11-45 with one home run, one double, nine walks, and 14 strikeouts. He’s athletic and a good defender who came up as an infielder, and still occasionally plays second, third, and shortstop, but primarily plays in the outfield, at all three spots.

Welcome to the Giants, Dalton!

What time do the Giants play today?

The Giants kick off a three-game home series against the Arizona Diamondbacks tonight at 7:15 p.m. PT. The Giants trail the division-leading D-Backs by 3.5 games in the NL West.