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Giants get Matt Moore from Rays, but pay a big price

Mike Oz
The Giants added Matt Moore to their rotation (AP).
The Giants added Matt Moore to their rotation (AP).

The San Francisco Giants, still looking for parts to make the even-year magic spin, made a last-minute deal with the Tampa Bay Rays to bolster their rotation. But it didn’t come without a price.

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The Giants got Matt Moore, the sought-after, 27-year-old lefty whose upside tantalized a number of teams at the MLB trade deadline, according to our own Jeff Passan. In return, the Giants gave up Matt Duffy, whose out-of-nowhere 2015 season made him both a fan favorite and a Rookie of the Year runner-up. Duffy has been injured this season, and the Giants also acquired versatile infielder Eduardo Nunez last week, so trading Duffy is less of a blow than it would have been, say, at the start of the season.

The Giants also gave up young shortstop Lucius Fox, their fourth-rated prospect according to MLB.com, plus pitcher Michael Santos, who ranked No. 24 on the Giants farm.

Moore was an All-Star in 2013, winning 17 games for the Rays and posting a 3.29 ERA. Since then, things haven’t been ideal. He missed more than a year after needing Tommy John surgery. He hasn’t been stellar since either. He’s just 7-7 this season with a 4.08 ERA, but the Giants are hoping that the Moore of the past reveals himself in San Francisco.

The Giants’ rotation has always been a strength, and with Madison Bumgarner, Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija helping make the Giants one of the best teams of the first half, it’s a strength again in 2016. Moore doesn’t need to be an ace in San Francisco, he just needs to do better than Jake Peavy and Matt Cain, who have struggled this season.

With Moore on board — and with the addition of reliever Will Smith, who S.F. got Monday from the Brewers — the Giants are willing to let a few promising players go in hopes of putting a 2016 World Series trophy next to the ones from 2010, 2012 and 2014.

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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!