Giants add RHP Andrews in Minors trade

December 9th, 2021

The Giants bolstered their pitching depth by swinging a Minor League trade with the Braves on Thursday, acquiring right-hander Tanner Andrews in exchange for cash considerations.

The deal comes only one day after the Braves poached Andrews from the Marlins in the Minor League phase of the Rule 5 Draft. A 10th-round Draft pick by Miami in 2018, Andrews has been deployed as both a starter and a reliever in the Minors, logging a 3.78 ERA over 40 career appearances (20 starts). The 26-year-old saw limited action with Double-A Pensacola in 2021, recording an 11.12 ERA over 5 2/3 innings in four relief appearances.

The Giants have prioritized starting pitching depth this offseason, re-signing Anthony DeSclafani (three years, $36 million) and Alex Wood (two years, $25 million) and adding Alex Cobb (two years, $20 million) to rebuild a rotation that already includes a potential homegrown ace in Logan Webb.

Still, president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi made it clear that he intended to keep searching for more pitching options to ensure that the Giants have enough arms to get through the 162-game season. Andrews is likely to start the 2022 campaign in the Minors, but his versatility could boost his chances of contributing to San Francisco’s pitching staff in some capacity next year.

“We're going to continue to look for starting pitching,” Zaidi said earlier this month. “Having four veteran guys -- there's some advantage to having starting pitchers that offer some flexibility, whether it's the ability to go back and forth between the rotation and the ‘pen, younger guys who have options, particularly in a situation where maybe we can build them up a little bit in Triple-A and rely on them at different parts of the season.

“That wouldn't rule out adding a fifth veteran starter. It’s something we'll continue to look at. I guess those things aren't mutually exclusive. We may add another veteran starter but also kind of continue to seek out a swing man or optionable starting pitching types.”