Three years ago, it sure looked like the Giants had their third baseman of the future in Matt Duffy.
Duffy was a surprise standout in his first full season as a starter with San Francisco in 2015, finishing second in NL rookie of the year voting, and showing above average ability both at the plate and the hot corner.
It then came as a shock for Giants fans when midway through the following season, Duffy was traded as part of a package to the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for starting pitcher Matt Moore.
But Giants fans weren’t the only ones shocked by the deal. Duffy joined Murph & Mac on Tuesday morning, and recounted his surprise the moment he found out the organization had traded him, and how he processed it.
“I was definitely shocked,” Duffy said. “I was with my girlfriend at a coffee shop and (Andrew) Susac got traded maybe 20 minutes before I did, and she asked, ‘Oh no, Andrew got traded. Can you get traded?’
“I was like ‘probably not. Cause I’m injured and I haven’t played that well this year when I was on the field, so I can’t see anybody really wanting me right now.’ Then 20 minutes later my phone rang and it was Bobby Evans. I just looked at it and was like, ‘well, I might be getting traded.’ He just warned me that the talks were happening and there was a good chance it would happen.
“Twenty minutes after that he called me again and said, ‘Thanks for everything, and don’t count us out in the future.’ Next I heard from Matt Silverman, our vice president over here with the Rays, and I was on a flight the next day.
“It was shocking. Almost feels like you’re getting broken up with a little bit. You know it’s something you move on from and you keep grinding. We’re all baseball players here, and that’s what we’re going to do regardless of where we’re at.”
Listen to the full interview below. To hear Duffy on being traded, skip to 6:30.