Giants take an interest in Danny Duffy

Although Danny duffy was placed on the Royals’ 10-day injury list on Tuesday, the Giants still have a business interest in the veteran southpaw, reports Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. “Injuries don’t give San Francisco much time overall,” Slusser notes, citing the signing of the team. John Brebbia during the offseason as Brebbia recovered from Tommy John surgery.

Naturally, the Giants’ interest will depend exactly on Duffy’s pain, given that this is the second time he’s visited IL this season with left flexor strain. This earlier stint at the IL put Duffy on the sidelines for almost six weeks, so if a similar recovery period is needed, he won’t be available to the Royals, Giants or any other club until the first week of September. This still makes Duffy a potential difference-maker in a pennant race, although it assumes that he will still be effective after that last layoff, and it also assumes that he won’t need more time to heal as it is a recurring injury.

This adds yet another wrinkle to the interesting case of Duffy, a business candidate. While Statcast’s metrics haven’t been great for the 32-year-old, Duffy has strong net numbers, with a 2.51 ERA and an above-average strikeout rate of 25.8% on 61 innings. He’s also a post-season free agent and therefore a seemingly logical trading chip for the struggling Royals, although Duffy enjoys full trade protection as a 10 and 5 player, and he has publicly spoken of his desire to stay with the Royals for his entire career.

However, there have been indications that Duffy (born in Goleta, Calif.) May be willing to accept a trade to the West Coast. As such, teams like the Padres, Dodgers and now Giants have reportedly been linked to Duffy, although it remains to be seen whether other California teams would not hesitate to acquire an injured player, either. As Slusser notes, Duffy’s injury surely lowers the Royals’ asking price in a trade, so a team like San Francisco could potentially view it as an acquisition of discounted lottery tickets.

In other Giants business rumors, Slusser reports that the Cardinals and Rangers have had scouts recently watching the Giants, so potential trading chips on those teams (if St. Louis actually decides to sell by the deadline) could be on San Francisco’s radar. Pitch side, Kyle Gibson, Kwang hyun kim, or even longtime Cardinal Adam wainwright come out. Slusser notes the outfield is a target area for the Giants, so the Rangers hit Joey gallo would be a major adjustment.