San Francisco Giants gamble on pitchers, prospects at MLB trade deadline

SAN FRANCISCO — Shortly before the MLB trade deadline clock struck midnight (3 p.m. PT Tuesday), Alex Cobb left Oracle Park for the final time, with close confidant and rotation mate Logan Webb at his side.

At 3 p.m., Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi laid out a direction that doubles down on the contributions his club has received from its young players and a starting rotation finally at full strength that had no room for the 36-year-old veteran.

Despite the low odds according to projection systems, Zaidi said he believes it’s a path to the playoffs.

“We hope to be there,” he said.

Cobb was traded for a promising young pitcher to Cleveland, where he reunites with first-year manager Stephen Vogt and bench coach Craig Albernaz, his first two catchers in professional baseball with the Tampa Bay Rays. The Giants also parted ways with struggling designated hitter Jorge Soler and reliever Luke Jackson late Monday night and, in the final moments before the deadline, acquired outfielder Mark Canha, a longtime favorite of manager Bob Melvin.

Moving forward with a rotation that includes Logan Webb, Blake Snell, Robbie Ray, Kyle Harrison and Hayden Birdsong, Zaidi said, “We think we have the best rotation in baseball.”

“It’s been a long road to get our rotation to where it is now,” Zaidi said. “When you have starting pitchers like that, it can put you on the right track. For us, keeping that group together, the way we played last weekend, was a top priority. Obviously, we have to be open to what could happen, but that was really our central philosophy coming into the deadline. We have a rotation that can carry this team the rest of the way and put us on the right track.”

It will take a performance the team has yet to produce to move into the National League wild-card standings with 54 games remaining before their series against the A’s on Tuesday night. By sweeping the Rockies in four games, the Giants matched their season winning streak and moved to within two games of .500, but they were still four games out of the final playoff spot against the Padres and three other teams.

FanGraphs gave them a 17.9 percent chance of winning one of the seven playoff spots, but Melvin joked, “I’m not a fan of FanGraphs and I don’t look at percentages.

“You can win five or six games in a row and things can change completely. Things can change quickly if you can keep a streak going.”

When Ray made his debut last week, it was a much-needed reinforcement for a rotation that was sometimes down to two regular starters, forcing the bullpen to shoulder the biggest workload in the major leagues. The team decided it didn’t need another boost from Cobb after watching Birdsong’s first six major league starts, which produced a 2.97 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 30⅓ innings, including 20 strikeouts in his last two starts.

“A big part of the deal with Alex Cobb was to create a spot for him,” Zaidi said.

Cobb, who was a leader in the locker room and is nearing the end of a longer-than-expected rehab from offseason hip surgery, said Zaidi, “It was tough.” Cobb was set to make his debut this week before a blister popped in his final rehab start and on Sunday he made his case to stay in San Francisco, even though a trade to the first-ranked Guardians boosts his chances of pitching in the playoffs for just the second time in his 13-year career.

The Giants are also betting that Snell’s second-half resurgence continues apace, Webb’s last three starts have been nothing but an aberration, Ray, 32, is free of complications in his return from major elbow surgery and their pair of rookies are trouble-free as they surpass the highest workloads of their careers.

“The job that Hayden has done, for us to really believe in the ability of this group of five starters to play,” Zaidi said, “you have to take a little bit of a risk and have faith in their ability to pitch and be healthy. If something happens, we’re going to have to figure out another plan.”

Although the Giants shed about $36 million in salary between Soler, Cobb and Jackson, those moves weren’t enough to bring them back under the luxury tax threshold, meaning they’ll be operating under tighter restrictions this offseason.

Trading Soler less than a year into the three-year, $42 million contract he signed at the start of spring training allowed the Giants to open up regular at-bats as a designated hitter for Marco Luciano, who has six homers and a .970 OPS since the start of July at Triple-A Sacramento.

Luciano was called up, along with handyman Blake Sabol, to fill the two roster vacancies ahead of Tuesday’s game.

“The (Soler) deal last night was really about creating at-bats for Luciano, who has really come a long way offensively,” Zaidi said, adding that outfielder Luis Matos is also in line to join the team. “I think we’ve seen his trajectory over the last few years and you talk about how he can be put under such a microscope because he’s been a highly regarded prospect since he signed at 16. Sometimes you lose the big picture of his progress. We’ve really seen that over the last month.”

While Melvin said they could use the vacant designated hitter spot to bring out Matt Chapman or other position players and Luciano could still move to the infield — “I don’t think we’re putting ink on him being a career designated hitter now,” Zaidi said — he will serve as the club’s primary designated hitter.

Calling Canha, 35, “an ideal candidate” and looking at Melvin in the back of the room and saying, “Bob got the keys to the car and brought another one of his guys,” Zaidi described a part-time role for Oakland’s longtime staple, heavy on left-handed pitchers and locker room leaders.

“His versatility, his ability to play corners, play first base, start, come off the bench. We’re very left-handed in the corners, so he fits that perfectly,” Zaidi said. “I think the relationships he has in the locker room … and really in this city and this area, he’s really a great fit for us and I know people are excited about it.”