As he talked about the Tommy La Stella addition on Thursday morning, Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi hinted that another left-handed bat was coming, this time via a trade. The Giants didn't take long to make that move.
The Giants are sending reliever Shaun Anderson to the Minnesota Twins in exchange for LaMonte Wade Jr., a versatile outfielder who hits from the left side.
Wade Jr. has options remaining, which makes him a candidate for the fifth outfielder job, and an ideal fit for a front office that needs more players capable of being used in Triple-A and the big leagues this season.
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Earlier Thursday, Zaidi said the Giants could target outfielders who have options remaining and "could maybe compete with some of our younger outfielders, guys like Jaylin (Davis) and Steven Duggar, for some of the at-bats and maybe that last spot on the roster."
Wade Jr., 27, was a ninth-round pick in 2015 and worked his way up to the big leagues four years later. He has played 42 games for the Twins across the last two seasons, batting .211 with a .336 on-base percentage and a couple of homers.
That OBP is key, as it's the stat that has stood out throughout Wade Jr.'s career. He has a .389 on-base percentage in the minors and was at .392 in Triple-A in 2019. In more than 2,000 minor league plate appearances, Wade has more walks than strikeouts, although he has never provided much power. His career-high in a season is 11 homers.
Wade played all three outfield spots in the minors and has plenty of experience in center, where the Giants could use a left-handed option to pair with Mauricio Dubon. With the Twins he started 13 games in center, seven in left, two in right and also four at first base.
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Anderson was picked up in the Eduardo Nuñez deal with the Red Sox in 2017 and has seen big league time as a starter and reliever. At one point he was one of the organization's top starting prospects, and he later looked like a potential back-end guy in the bullpen, but Anderson struggled with his command last year and wasn't used in high-leverage spots.
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The Giants have added right-handed relief depth this winter and also have Reyes Moronta coming back from a shoulder injury. Anderson would have had a tough time cracking the opening day roster.