The strange way Mauricio Dubón helped the SF Giants acquire Lewis Brinson
Seemingly out of thin air, outfielder Lewis Brinson has emerged as the most exciting player on the SF Giants. Once considered one of the best prospects in the minor leagues, Brinson never found his footing with the Brewers and Marlins. However, Brinson has been the best player on the Giants since they acquired him in a trade with the Astros last week. Yet, there's an argument to be made that San Francisco never could have traded for the 28-year-old outfielder if it were not for Mauricio Dubón.
Dubón, of course, was one of the most popular young players on the Giants over the past few years. Acquired at the 2019 MLB trade deadline in a deal that sent a pair of relievers to the Brewers, Dubón quickly became an instant sparkplug in their lineup, hitting .279/.312/.442.
The following year, the Giants wanted to experiment with Dubón's versatility. A career infielder, who was primarily developed as a shortstop, the Giants' new coaching staff with manager Gabe Kapler gave Dubón an opportunity to play center field. Dubón took to it immediately.
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By the end of the 2020 season, Dubón had emerged as the team's primary center fielder against left-handed hitters and seemed like a part of the team's core going forward. However, while the Giants burst onto the scene in 2021 en route to a 107-win season, Dubón had his worst offensive performance as a pro. Even in his limited role, Dubón had an OPS of just .677 and spent nearly as much of the season at Triple-A as he did on San Francisco's major-league roster.
After a slow start this year, which included several costly baserunning mistakes, the Giants decided it was time to move on from the Honduran utilityman and traded him to the Houston Astros for catcher Michael Papierski on May 14th.
The deal did not play out well for the Giants. Papierski struggled mightily in the Giants organization and was designated for assignment before the end of June. While Dubón has continued to struggle offensively in Houston, he has carved out a valuable role with the AL West leaders as a valuable defensive replacement at second base, shortstop, and all three outfield spots. Yet, there's an argument to be made that San Francisco would have never been able to acquire Brinson this September if they had not traded Dubón to the Astros.
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The Astros have been searching for a good defensive center fielder who could hit left-handed pitching for some time. Searching for depth in their upper minors, Houston was able to ink Brinson to a minor-league deal heading into this season, where they hoped to help him turn a corner at Triple-A.
Brinson dealt with a pair of injuries this season, but when he was been healthy, he was one of the most productive hitters in Triple-A, belting 22 home runs alongside an exceptional .299/.356/.574 triple-slash in 85 games.
While Brinson was crushing minor-league pitching, the Astros were churning through center field options. José Siri started the year as their primary center fielder against left-handed pitching but hit just .178/.238/.304 before they traded him to the Rays at the deadline. Jake Meyers was another right-handed hitter who Houston gave an extended audition this season. After hitting just .209/.255/.302 with 50 strikeouts in 149 plate appearances, he was optioned to the minors.
In fact, the struggles of players like Siri and Meyers had our sibling site over at Inside the Astros asking if Houston's front office was going to give Brinson a chance. Instead, they stuck with Dubón, who is currently platooning with Chas McCormick in center.
Had the Giants held onto Dubón or traded him to a different team, there's a very real chance that the Astros would not have been comfortable enough with their outfield depth to trade Brinson for cash. In fact, Brinson could have easily been called up to Houston and been blasting homers for the 'Stros.
It's important to clarify that this is not a conspiracy theory claiming the SF Giants played 4-D chess by moving Mauricio Dubón to the Astros so they could land Brinson months later. The Giants front office would surely prefer to have acquired a player who was able to become a long-term contributor for Dubón, but baseball is funny that way. Teams spend painstaking amounts of time hyper analyzing every move, and yet, sometimes they just get lucky and a former top 100 prospect like Lewis Brinson goes from a minor-league filler in one organization to the most exciting player on another. Luckily for Giants fans, this time, the luck seems to have fallen in their favor.
