The Giants announced that shortstop Brandon Crawford has been activated from the 10-day injured list, while outfielder Joc Pederson is also back after being activated from the seven-day concussion IL. To create roster space, San Francisco optioned infielder David Villar to Triple-A and designated infielder Dixon Machado for assignment.
Crawford has been battling soreness in his left knee for most of the season, and the injury has resulted in two trips to the IL for the veteran shortstop within the last six weeks. This latest IL stint sidelined Crawford for a little over three weeks, and it is possible that the lingering nature of this problem could lead to Crawford getting a few more days off than usual over the final two months of the regular season.
Coming off a career year in 2021, Crawford’s knee issues could be partially to blame for his dropoff this season, as the shortstop is hitting only .215/.297/.332 over 279 plate appearances. There’s still time for Crawford to get on track and finish the year in more respectable fashion, even if it might be too late for the Giants to get back into the wild card race.
With the Giants moving some veteran players at the trade deadline, it is quite possible he might’ve been moved had it not been for his concussion symptoms. The good news, however, is that Pederson is able to make a quick return after hitting the concussion-IL on July 29, so he doesn’t appear to be dealing with any lingering after-effects. The slugger is hitting .242/.319/.492 with 17 home runs over 285 PA, and his first-half performance earned a slot on the NL All-Star roster.
It could be a very short stay in the Giants organization for Machado, who was just acquired in a trade with the Cubs on July 31. San Francisco was in a crunch for shortstop depth with Crawford and Thairo Estrada both on the IL, and thus Machado provided some short-term help. Machado’s five games with the Giants represented his first MLB playing time since 2018, as he has since been playing in the KBO League and with the Cubs’ Triple-A affiliate.
Machado was indeed a short stop.
Is Dixon Machado the worst player to request a trade?
I bet when he first came to the team he said: “Name’s Dixon, but you can call me Manny.”
Actually, since he has yet to achieve the MLB track record of the other MACHADO,
Dixon can be referred to as “Minny”
Possibly he’ll get claimed by the Twins, and “Minny” will REALLY fit!
Villar handled the infield alright. He did have a bonehead play or two. The bat needs some work.
He seemed to leave his power in AAA.
If Raynal Espinal EVER amounts to anything, this will be a trade the Giants regret.
Imagine, they traded a player to get ONE WEEK of MLB service from Dixon and then DFA.
Guess the Giants can always look back as having gotten MACHADO for a week….
If there was even a scintilla of a thought that Espinal could be anything close to league average, he wouldn’t have been traded for Machado. Espinal wasn’t even in the Giants top 40 prospects. If he suddenly develops into anything, it will be pure luck for the Cubs. The Giants knew they weren’t giving much, and the Cubs were well aware they weren’t getting much.
Uhh, you know Espinal is a 31yo who’s been below average in Triple-A over the last 5-6 years right?
I don’t think the Giants are missing much, especially since that’s the guy THEY CHOSE to trade for a guy that hadn’t seen the majors in 4yrs
Uhh, you know Espinal is a 31yo who’s been below average in Triple-A over the last 5-6 years right?
I don’t think the Giants are missing much, especially since that’s the guy THEY CHOSE to trade for a guy that hadn’t seen the majors in 4yrs.
How much does Crawford have left? Sorry for Joc, the Brewer Killer, getting hurt. Still think LA ruined his career, making him out to being a platoon player. However, as I stated before, he did not have the numbers to be an all-star this year.
The cavalry is here!
Calvary better produce quickly
forever giant dixon machado
Let’s go Brandon!
So great when people think they are clever.
Let’s not, Cletus von Ivermectin.
I’m still shocked they kept Joc and Rodon. Maybe the offers were lacking in prospects but I thought SF would send more guys out than they did.
Teams are still overvaluing prospects, and aren’t willing to part with any for a rental. It was almost assured by those most knowledgeable that Willson Contreras would be traded. With the Cubs 15 games out of the last WC berth, they certainly would have traded him, had there been a good offer. And Contreras not being traded is a bigger surprise than Rodon and Joc.
With Estrada coming back, Machado is surplus. I was surprised they didn’t bring Diaz up from Sacramento when Estradagot hurt.
This all feels like rearranging chairs on the Titanic. Albeit, broken chairs.
Crawford must be thanking his lucky stars he signed that extension when he did. Even if his body is done he gets to go out making bank and adding to his coffers.
He’s on paid sabbatical. It’s a common practice in non-athletic careers.
It’s interesting to look at last season, with hindsight of how it all turned out. On this date, 8/6, 2021, the AL division leads were TB, CHW, and HOU. All of them held on.
The AL WC spots belonged to BOS, and OAK. OAK would fail to make the PS, finishing 6.0 GB the 2nd WC, and the NYYs, 1.5 GB, would tie BOS with 92 wins, and get the 2nd WC.
In the NL, the division leaders were SF, MIL, with the NYMs and PHI tied. SF and MIL held on, but the NYMs would wind up 11.5 GB for the division, 13 GB for the 2nd WC, and PHI would end up 6.5 GB for the division, 8 GB for the 2nd WC, and both would fail to make the PS
The NL WCs spots belonged to LAD and SD. LAD easily held on for a WC berth, bur ATL, 6.5 GB on 8/6, took the 2nd WC spot, while SD, wound up 11 GB for the 2nd WC.
I’m still not convinced that the Padres won’t blow it again this year. I’m surprised nobody is talking about how bad they’ve been for awhile. On Jun 22, they were tied for first place in the West, and since then they’ve gone 17-23 and lost 15.5 games on the Dodgers. That’s including going 1-4 with their shiny, new offense since the trade deadline.
The Giants would amazingly be just 3.5 games back from the Padres and potentially the third wildcard spot with a sweep this week.