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SAN FRANCISCO – Neither Tyler Austin nor Brandon Belt played field games with their respective teams during the spring training.
So, when the Giants acquired Austin in an exchange with the Minnesota Twins on Monday, baseball operations president Farhan Zaidi and manager Bruce Bochy faced a dilemma. The Giants want the two batters in a formation that desperately needs more power. The team's confidence therefore chose to send Austin to first base and move Belt to the left field.
Belt has appeared in just 70 career games in the left field, but Austin has only played one time in his career in 122 games.
"I have not played a lot in the field in the last two years, but I'm ready to go back there and find that feeling," Austin said. "Most of my games have been played at DH or first base, but I'm open to where they want to put me."
The Giants traded minor league player Malique Ziegler to Minnesota to acquire Austin, designated to be assigned by the Twins on Saturday. Bochy said Austin would play mainly against left-handed pitchers, allowing the Giants to add a power threat to the right-handers to a team that has scored just six home runs in 10 games.
"It will give punch," Bochy said. "It's a nice right-handed bat that we need. It's fair to say. We are looking for a little more punch there. He is a guy who has always been successful against left-handed throwers. "
Austin scored 17 homers in 69 games last season, including 8 in 89 against left-handed pitchers. To clear a spot for Austin in the 25-player lineup, the Giants named rookie Connor Joe for assignment.
Joe was selected by the Reds in the draft at Rule 5 this winter and was traded to San Francisco on March 21st. He made his debut in the big leagues on opening day, but his playing time decreased after the Giants acquired Kevin Pillar of the Blue Jays.
Joe and his compatriot Michael Reed, starting from the first day of the opening day, were named by the Giants after less than two weeks of games, but Zaidi said the decisions made did not accurately reflect their initial difficulties. The Giants' top baseball executive noted that the franchise did not have an optimal chance to add players like Pillar and Austin during the off season.
"It was a little less than we were going to understand that on the fly, when we were looking for a first right-handed defensive stick in the outside field and a person who caused a shock, especially against left-handed pitchers," said Zaidi. . "We just could not close this business until the start of the season. We are obviously very happy to have these two guys. "
Although the Giants felt they had made significant improvements to a squad that needed more help on the right side of the plate, Zaidi also explained why the club felt comfortable moving from two young, inexperienced players to more promising ones, Reed and Joe.
"You need performance and immediate returns, or your team has to play well in order to buy that player a little more time, or you're in full rebuild mode and you're ready to get out," Zaidi m & # 39 said. "Unfortunately, none of these cases apply in this case."
Zaidi and Bochy understand that the team is sacrificing its defense to add a power threat to its composition, but Zaidi said the Giants thought Austin had the athleticism needed to perform better in the outfield while Bochy said that Belt regularly told him he was the best athlete in the world team.
"Whatever position or role they want to see me in, I'm open to that," said Austin. "I'm excited to be here."
Belt is a Gold Glove defenseman on first base and Zaidi and Bochy said it would remain his main position. Austin will play mostly against left-handers and he may not stay in the game when the Giants have a late-run lead.
Bochy is more confident using a defensive trio consisting of Pillar in the center, Gerardo Parra on the left and Steven Duggar on the right. The Giants will therefore probably seek to put Belt back in the opposite field when they are in front.
Bowing Belt to the field is not a decision the Giants made when they started the camp this spring, but early changes to the lineup forced the club to be creative. Zaidi is determined to continue to change the lineup to maximize the team's chances of success, but after adding Pillar and Austin to the field category last week, he believes the Giants are in a much better position than on the first day.
"It was a bit of the setup we had been looking for for a while, so let's hope these guys can get into their roles," Zaidi said.
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