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The Giants have traded infielder Eduardo Nunez to the Red Sox for minor-league pitchers Shaun Anderson and Gregory Santos, according to FOX’s Ken Rosenthal and Alex Speier of the Boston Globe.
Nunez was seen hugging teammates after being pulled from the Giants’ game in the fifth inning, signaling a trade was imminent.
Boston has been looking for a third baseman on the trade market for weeks, being linked to Jed Lowrie, Todd Frazier and others before settling on Nunez. The club also promoted top prospect Rafael Devers from Triple-A over the weekend, so it’s unclear who will start at third moving forward.
Nunez, 30, has been a rare bright spot for the Giants this season, hitting .307/.331/.413 with four homers in 75 games while appearing at third base, shortstop and both corner outfield spots. He was acquired by the Giants in a deal with the Twins for lefty Adalberto Mejia on July 28 of last year and became a trade chip for San Francisco with his strong performance in 2017.
Nunez will hit free agency after this season, so he’s a pure rental for the Red Sox. Boston’s offense has been lacking all season, with Pablo Sandoval, Josh Rutledge and Brock Holt serving as less than desirable offensive options at the hot corner in the wake of Travis Shaw’s departure.
With their third base problem now solved with the additions of Devers and Nunez, the Red Sox will likely focus on adding bullpen help on the trade market.
The Giants, one of the worst teams in baseball this year, still have a few desirable trade chips, with Johnny Cueto, Jeff Samardzija and Hunter Strickland among the remaining options to be dealt.
Anderson, 22, was Boston’s third-round pick out of Florida last season. The righty ranked as the 18th-best prospect in Boston’s system in MLB Pipeline’s most recent rankings after posting a combined 3.42 ERA and 7.9 K/9 in 18 starts between Single-A Greenville and Hi-A Salem. He worked as a closer for the Gators but has starter potential in the pros, as evidenced by his minor-league stats to this point.
Santos, 17, joined the Sox organization last season and owns a stellar 0.90 ERA and 7.2 K/9 in 30 innings in the Dominican Summer League. The ground-ball pitcher is obviously very far away from the majors but could project as a high-upside arm for the Giants in the future.