State of Ohio thwarts SF Giants in waiver wire bonanza

Any chance the San Francisco Giants had of getting another cheeky pickup was cut off by MLB’s Ohio delegation.

At Thursday morning’s waiver claim period, the Cleveland Guardians came away with pitchers Lucas Giolito, Matt Moore and Reynaldo López. The Cincinnati Reds nabbed two outfielders: Hunter Renfroe and Harrison Bader. 

This season’s waiver wire had a bit more spice to it thanks to the floundering Los Angeles Angels. The Angels went all in on moves for Giolito and company at the trade deadline, only to completely collapse over the last month and lose star pitcher Shohei Ohtani to a torn UCL.

San Francisco didn’t miss out on any of these guys because it was slower to the draw. The order of waiver claims is determined by record, and since the Guardians (64-70) and Reds (69-66) have done just slightly worse than the Giants (69-44) this year, they got first dibs. The Giants solidified their position behind Cincinnati in the waiver order after beating the Reds twice in their three-game series this week.

Though Cleveland is six games under .500, they’re just five games behind the Twins in the always-open AL Central division. However, the Reds’ additions will certainly affect the Giants more directly. Cincinnati sits just one game behind the final NL Wild Card spot, which San Francisco currently holds.

Even with these transactions, the Giants do have the short-term advantage in terms of upcoming schedule. They face the Padres, another disappointing Southern California team, in a four-game series on the road. The Reds, meanwhile, have to face a Chicago Cubs squad that is holding onto the second Wild Card spot.

However, if it does turn out that the Reds’ new players become the difference for them down the stretch, and help push the Giants out of postseason contention, it will be hard not to think about this late-season series as the first domino that fell towards that failure. Not even Kyle Harrison’s breakout game or Alex Cobb’s near-no-hitter would be able to heal that wound.