The Giants announced Tuesday that they’ve acquired outfielder TJ Hopkins from the Reds in exchange for cash or a player to be named later. Cincinnati designated Hopkins for assignment last week.
Hopkins, 27 next month, made his MLB debut this past season and went 7-for-41 (all singles) with a pair of walks and 17 strikeouts in 44 plate appearances. It was hardly an eye-catching debut, but the 2019 ninth-rounder’s production in Triple-A Louisville was far more intriguing. In his first full season at the top minor league level, Hopkins delivered a robust .308/.411/.514 batting line with a 14% walk rate, 23.9% strikeout rate, 16 home runs, 18 doubles, a triple and a pair of steals.
Hopkins has played primarily left field in his professional career but has plenty of experience in right field and center field as well. He’s been an average or better hitter at every minor league stop and steadily improved both his walk and strikeout rates as he’s climbed the minor league ladder. Hopkins was in the first of three minor league option years this past season, so he has two more remaining. He’ll give the Giants a right-handed depth bat to add to a heavily left-handed outfield mix.
Presently, the Giants project to have lefties Michael Conforto and Mike Yastrzemski in the outfield corners, where they’ll flank newly signed center fielder Jung Hoo Lee. The KBO star — another lefty bat — signed a six-year deal that’ll pay him $113MM just last week. Also in the outfield mix in San Francisco are righties Mitch Haniger, Austin Slater, Luis Matos, Heliot Ramos and lefties Blake Sabol and Wade Meckler. Haniger, who’s entering the second season of a three-year contract, could see a fair bit of time at designated hitter. Sabol could see big league time as a reserve catcher and outfielder.
Another marquee acquisition! Unbelievable.
Don’t sleep on cash every team wants him.
I read your comment, and it made me burst out laughing. Then I read your username, and laughed even harder as I was literally thinking about Ray King yesterday.
Found Ray Kings side chick
Someone said it’s just as good as money.
lanceparrishporvida — Your comment is meh, but your nickname is great!
Speaking of great nicknames…
His minor league batting line was a 134 wRC+
He’s projected for an 84 wRC+ by FanGraphs
Seems like important info omitted by the article
Look out NL West, here we come!!
maybe a trade is brewing of Bart+OF for an #4/5 SP on expiring contract?
I’ll pass on Bart, but I’ll still take the OnlyFans subscription. Gotta throw in something else though to get a #4/#5 caliber SP.
My God, Farhan is back into dumpster-diving mode in the height of the FA pursuit period. Unbelievable. Let’s see who else he can stuff onto the shelf for cash or a PTBNL.
Even the flashiest teams need to make moves like this. Take the stick out and go touch grass.
Will he beat DiPoto to Matt Carpenter? THAT is true DDM.
Pretty sure a POBO would be capable of multi tasking.
Seems like a meaningless acquisition. Don’t they already have enough outfielders like him lined up for AAA in Trenton Brooks, Yusniel Diaz, Luis Matos, Wade Meckler, Chase Pinder, Heliot Ramos and Blake Saobl?
More trades coming
We will see. FZ doesn’t do a lot of offseason trades. He does have a history of stuffing the 40 man roster with peripheral players, just to dfa them and hope that they don’t get claimed by another team. This acquisition (along with Devin Sweet) looks a lot like the latter.
Farhan can never pass up a mediocre “what if” outfielder with options. Would be incredible to see him flip some of the outfield glut for a more pressing need at SP.
Gotta believe Slater and Bart are on the move!
maybe ramos and slater – cleasn slate to get out from the old regime
@bag o balls Still blaming Evans and Sabean for Farhan’s failure in year SIX is beyond pathetic.
Overreactions here we come.
Lol why the heck do they need him? I’m sure they have about 10 players of his caliber in the minors right now.
You do realize that most prospects don’t develop as hoped. Only a fool would say there’s enough guys in our system, and pass on acquiring as many of those guys as possible.
Lol pickle? And can you substantiate “I’m sure”. Do you know what their people know? Click his name and check his 2023 stats. Are you “sure ” giants have 10 guys better than those numbers? Whiners are so quick to criticize every thing, as if they’re “sure” when in fact they’re clueless. 10 guys better than 338 abs, 18doubles, 16 hrs, .308 avg, .411 obp, .925 ops. If they have 10 better than the farm must be stacked.
The reds have the best prospect in MLB. They have some guy in triple A with like a 480 OBP
Wyatt Langford would like a word. Dude sped through all the way to AAA with zero issues in a third of a season.
and who are you talking about?
Sounds like the Giants are doing their own version of ” Money Ball.”
You know what movie they saw lately!
Except Beane made the playoffs more than he missed and the A’s didn’t have the Dodgers and Padres with stacked teams and the Diamondbacks going to the World Series in their division. Money ball works when your division is weak, that’s the part that always gets left out.
Another earth shattering move from the Reds
They DFAed him for a third catcher, and not loaded with young outfielders in the system to begin with, so I can’t disagree.
Buffalo Bob got cash…that’s all you need to know.
Relax. Hopkins would’ve been like 10th on the OF depth chart.
Name them.
1. Steer
2. Friedl
3. Fraley
4. Benson
5. Fairchild
6. Martini
7. Hurtubise
8. Hinds
9. Blake Dunn (not on 40 man, but will likely debut sometime this year)
10. Thompson
And if the plan is to play India some in the OF this season then you can include India somewhere in these rankings too
Hinds, Hurtubise and Dunn gave never dented the big leagues yet, Hinds and Dunn haven’t even hit the AAA level. Given the Reds promotion history, they are at least a half season away if not longer.
India – we’ll see. I personally hope he is still with them.
India will be gone for some kind of pitching.
Call me crazy but I think the Reds will be able to survive half a season without a 27 year old AAAA corner outfielder that put up -0.3 bWAR and a 10 OPS+ last season
41 big league ABs really tells the story of a guy’s career, stat boy.
Apparently the idea that they dumped a guy for an unneeded third catcher at a position where they don’t have a lot of experienced organizational depth was lost on you.
The first four on that list was it, and most only a year. Steer has not been out there much, India never, and Martini and to this point Fairchild has that AAAA label you want to throw around. The rest are suspects.
Maybe they should go get some more infielders, that seems to be Po Boy’s specialty. Who needs pitching, right?
Some folks just don’t get the concept of team building, especially on a team that allegedly is supposed to contend.
I notice you omitted Barerro (#7), as well as the already dfaed Nick Senzel (#9)(whom I would have placed ahead of TJ Hopkins on the Reds outfield depth chart as well).Hopkins checked in at about #12 in my book.
The good new is Hopkins would have been about #6 on the outfield depth chart a year ago as Steer was an infield prospect. No Benson or Martini. Prior to the breakout of Dunn, Hurtibise, and Hinds. But behind Friedl, Fraley, Fairchild, Senzel, and Myers (as I recall). Barerro still a ss first guy.
They needed that catcher because both of their AAA catchers were signed away in minor-league free agency. Hopkins was redundant with all of the outfield prospects knocking on the door.
Every team signs these kinda guys–Texas just signed Reed, 28 yr old OF…..Nats signed 27 yr old P Tice…….all teams look for these cheap guys who had some pedigree at some point to fill up their minor league teams……Farhan, and rightly so, gets jumped on cause he signs so many of them, hoping to get that one gold star in a bunch of mediocre singings…
right or wrong, its how he does it–i would rather have someone go after a bunch of these former prospects than sit on their hands and do nothing–
Sadek, you just contradicted yourself. Farhan should get “dumped on” or you’re glad he signs former prospects. Contradiction or typo?
This guy, LOL
Farhan going for 81-81, but don’t worry, it’ll be the most sabermetrically efficient and enlightened 81-81 outcome of all time.
A 27 yo who couldn’t mash as a AAA rookie at 25 and only succeeded in his repeat year at 26?
Hey, every team needs a 7th OFer.
That first stint in AAA was only 94 ABs. Are you saying there’s more informative value than the 331 ABs in his next year in which he had a .924 OPS?
Traded for TL Hopper.
Giants are doing everything they can… to finish last.
It’s easy to forget how bad Colorado is
Oh what fun it is to dunk on a future HOFer at the end of his career. Hope you feel better now.
Farhan, just got a premiere pinch runner…what foresight
How is it that so many people here have come to the conclusion that this guy sucks, when his ML experience is limited to 41 ABs? Anyone that’s watched baseball for any length of time should know that it’s a rookie mistake to pass judgement on so little info.
I’m not comparing him to Willie Mays, IMO the greatest all around player in history, but Mays had just 6 hits in his first 40 ABs. Last season at Louisville Hopkins had a slash line of .308/.411/.514.
It appears that he can hit, but his problem is too many SOs. He may not develop, but those numbers are interesting enough to give him a look. As a low-risk gamble, why not?
Is this Farhan Zaidi?
As if…
I suppose you don’t think anyone can have the opinion that this low-risk deal is worth the bother, so it must be Zaidi incognito. Pathetic.
It’s a good move. You play 162 games a year and use up to 50 to 60 players on your roster through out the year. Teams that don’t do their do diligence on the 40 to 60 guys in your organization when you have injuries are the teams that fall out of contention in June, July, and August because they have to scour the waiver wire big time. These kinda deals can save your season. How many days did Haniger, Yaz, and Conforto spent on the IL last year?
“You can’t teach an old dog new tricks!”……. Good old & dependable Farhan!
I thought Hopkins might make an interesting role player, but this move shows the Reds don’t feel the same way. They kept two other right-handed OFs (Stuart Fairchild and Bubba Thompson) on the 40-man, so clearly slotted him behind those two and lefty Nick Martini..
Plus this means the Reds won’t get the opportunity to have three TJs on the field at once.
Sounds oddly like something Votto would say regarding himself. Lighten up Francis
Yeah, don’t understand the bile, particularly if you’re a Reds fan. He represented himself and the city quite well, over a long and distinguished career. I, for one, will miss him.
Seriously. WHAT ARE WE DOING?!?!
We? What are you, a Seahawks fan?
Aside from that, if you haven’t figured out the churn, you will continue to be confused by these org filler, “break glass in case of emergency” types of moves.
Yeah but what’s his WAR?
Well this is new, ML teams “dumpster diving” on Reds rejects.
This clears the way for the Reds to utility Jacob Hurtubise – could be an excellent source of last round Steals in fantasy.