The San Francisco Giants are reportedly exploring the possibility of trading second baseman Joe Panik, and that may be because they have their eye on a free agent to replace the veteran infielder.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported on Thursday that the Giants have been talking with teams about a potential Panik trade, and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic added that they are interested in free agent second baseman DJ LeMahieu.
The infield market is about to start moving quickly with Brian Dozier headed to the Nationals, league sources tell ESPN. D.J. LeMahieu and Jed Lowrie are in play, and there’s a new name percolating: The Giants are talking with teams about deals for Joe Panik, sources tell ESPN.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 10, 2019
#SFGiants are among the teams showing interest in LeMahieu, sources tell The Athletic. https://t.co/c0eUdQIjEN
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 10, 2019
Connecting the dots makes it seem like the Giants feel LeMahieu would be an upgrade over Panik, which isn’t all that hard to believe. Panik hit .254 last season with four homers, 24 RBI, and an OBP of just .307. LeMahieu hit .276 with a career-high 15 home runs and drove in 62 with the Colorado Rockies. He’s a career .298 hitter who batted over .300 from 2015-2017, winning the batting title with a .348 average in 2016. LeMahieu is also a two-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove winner.
The Nationals signed Brian Dozier to a contract on Thursday, so LeMahieu will likely be the next domino to fall at the second base position.
