What Does Mark Canha Acquisition Mean for San Francisco Giants?

The San Francisco Giants added some insurance to their lineup by acquiring veteran Mark Canha from the Detroit Tigers.

Jul 22, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Detroit Tigers left fielder Mark Canha (21) rounds third base en route to scoring during the sixth inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. / Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

The San Francisco Giants did a lot of wheeling and dealing ahead of the 2024 MLB trade deadline. There were no blockbuster moves, as they opted to keep ace Blake Snell after clearing some money by trading Jorge Soler and Luke Jackson to the Atlanta Braves.

In another selling move, the Giants traded veteran pitcher Alex Cobb to the Cleveland Guardians. Cobb has yet to pitch for San Francisco this season but was nearing a return, so taking on a lottery ticket to give their youngster Hayden Birdsong consistent starts makes a lot of sense.

The Giants wasted little time using that money and putting it back into the team. Right ahead of the deadline buzzer, they acquired veteran Mark Canha from the Detroit Tigers.

To land Canha, San Francisco traded 21-year-old prospect Eric Silva to the Tigers. Coming into the season, Silva was ranked as the team’s No. 19 overall prospect. In some people’s opinion that could be too steep of a price.

Trading away a young pitcher given the position the franchise is in will bring about some debates among analysts and fans about how good of a move it is. But, they have made their plans clear, as they are going to go for it this season and Canha can help them.

For starters, he helps balance out Bob Melvin’s lineup. A right-handed bat, he provides a nice platoon for Michael Conforto and Mike Yastrzemski, who are both left-handed hitters. With experience playing all three outfield spots, he can fill in at any of those spots in a pinch.

He provides a lot more versatility than Soler did, as Canha can also play first base. That could be the main reason why he was acquired, as the Giants are currently without Wilmer Flores, who was placed on the 10-day IL with knee tendonitis last week.

Stepping into Flores’s platoon role is something Canha should excel at. This season, he has mashed left-handed pitching. In 85 plate appearances, he has produced a slash line of .286/.400/.457 with eight extra-base hits.

Overall this season, Canha is slashing .231/.337/.350 as a very poor June sapped his stats. But, he has started to show some life since the All-Star break and San Francisco is certainly hoping that will continue with them.

A Bay Area kid, a homecoming could help rejuvenate him as well. After spending the first seven seasons of his career with the Oakland Athletics, he is going to see how things go on the other side of the bay. He also reunites with Melvin, who was his first major league manager.