With just over two months remaining until Eduardo Nunez hits free agency, the San Francisco Giants decided to trade their starting third baseman to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for pitchers Shaun Anderson and 17-year old Gregory Santos.
The Red Sox are sending RHP Shaun Anderson (3.99 ERA in HiA Salem) and 17-yr-old RHP Gregory Santos (0.90 ERA in 30 IP in the DSL) to SF. https://t.co/bL2y1eaD4X
— Alex Speier (@alexspeier) July 26, 2017
Considering the Giants have been out of the playoff hunt for the better part of the season, general manager Bobby Evans elected to part with his versatile, reliable third baseman in exchange for two young, promising pitchers.
According to Giants’ public relations:
Anderson, 22, has combined to go 6-3 with a 3.42 ERA (37er, 97.1ip) in 18 starts between Class-A Greenville and Class-A Advanced Salem in 2017. Selected by the Red Sox out of the University of Florida in the third round of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft, the right-hander has posted a 1.15 WHIP and held opponents to a .228 batting average this season.
Santos, 17, was signed by Boston as an international free agent on Aug. 28, 2015. He has made seven starts for the Dominican Summer League Red Sox this season, going 2-0 with a 0.90 ERA (3er, 30.0ip) with 24 strikeouts. He was named to the 2017 DSL All-Star Game, where he threw 1.0-scoreless inning. The right-hander made his professional debut in 2016, when he went 3-3 with a 4.17 ERA (19er, 41.0ip) in 16 appearances (10 starts) for the Dominican Summer League Red Sox.
After starting Tuesday’s contest against the Pirates and going 1-for-2 with two RBIs and a hit-by-pitch, Nunez was pinch hit for in the bottom half of the fifth inning by Giants’ manager Bruce Bochy. Once Nunez was pulled from the game, he began hugging his Giants’ teammates and coaches, and embarked on a brief goodbye tour.
Nunez came into Tuesday’s game with a .307 batting average, and had made a number of impressive defensive plays at third base over the past few days despite committing an error in each of the first two games of the Giants’ series against the Pirates.
Earlier this month, the Red Sox designated starting third baseman Pablo Sandoval for assignment, and that left a void that Boston needed to fill heading into the stretch run. With Nunez set to become a free agent, the Red Sox felt compelled to pursue Nunez, and on Tuesday evening, the Giants and Red Sox completed the deal.