Trade Central: Giants Add Infield Depth With Twins' Nunez

THE DEAL

The Giants, dealing with injuries to Joe Panik, who just returned, and Matt Duffy turned to Minnesota for help on Thursday, acquiring All-Star Eduardo Nunez for lefthander Adalberto Mejia.

Nunez has always had a lively bat, but his defense has lagged behind the bat. Once considered the heir to Derek Jeter, the Yankees found his glove unreliable and traded Nunez to the Twins in April 2014 for lefthander Miguel Sulbaran.

Mejia, who ranked No. 10 in the Giants’ system entering the season, was No. 5 in the Top 10 at Midseason.

“We’ve seen the need for depth in the infield,” Giants general manager Bobby Evans told reporters. “As we think about the guys who come back and the amount of rest they need, and the amount of time we still have to go in the season, to have a guy with (Nunez’s) experience, we feel he can help us cover the tracks as we get 100 percent healthy.”

TWINS ACQUIRE
Adalberto Mejia, lhp
Age: 23

Mejia, 23, signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2011. After a 50-game suspension in 2015 for use of a weight-loss drug, he began the season at Double-A Richmond for a third time before being promoted to Triple-A Sacramento after recording a 1.94 ERA and 0.98 WHIP in 11 starts. Mejia’s fastball now sits 92-93 mph and his changeup has made strides and he is able to throw it for strikes. His conditioning has improved as well, and he gets high marks for improved maturity. He profiles as a solid, durable No. 4 starter.

Club (League)	Class	W	L	ERA	G	GS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO
Richmond (EL)	AA	3	2	1.94	11	11	65	48	16	14	4	16	58
Sacramento (PCL)	AAA	4	1	4.20	7	7	41	42	19	19	5	11	43

GIANTS ACQUIRE
Eduardo Nunez, inf
Age: 29

Nunez, who once ranked as high as No. 6 in the Yankees’ system, never had a problem with the bat but his erratic fielding led the Yankees to try him at multiple positions, including a forgettable stint in left field. They finally gave up, shuttling him to the Twins following spring training in 2014. Given a chance to play, Nunez has flourished offensively in Minnesota, especially this season where he has set career bests in homers and RBIs already and made his first All-Star team. He’s played second, shortstop and third this year and presumably could be tried in left field again if the need arose.