In a surprisingly busy trade deadline, the San Francisco Giants made one small trade to bolster their bullpen, trading to get LHP Anthony Banda from the Tampa Bay Rays for cash.

Banda, 27, was a former top 100 prospect, but has struggled recently.  He got into four games in relief in 2020 for the Rays, with a 10.29 ERA.  He also had a 6.75 ERA in the Majors in 3 games in 2019, and had a 5.67 ERA combined in the minors in 2019 in 13 games, eight of which were starts.  He was designated for assignment by the Rays on Monday and the Giants quickly traded for him before the deadline.

The Giants placed Joey Rickard on the 45-day IL to open a roster spot for Banda, which will mean Rickard is out for the rest of the season.

Banda was drafted in the 10th round by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2012, coming out of San Jacinto Community College.  In 2014, he was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks as part of the trade that sent Gerardo Parra to the Brewers.  Before the 2018 season, he was part of the 3-team trade that involved sending Brandon Drury to the Yankees and Steven Souza to Arizona, and Banda went to the Rays.

He was a highly regarded prospect.  In 2017, he was the #1 prospect in the Diamondbacks system, and #88 overall, as ranked by Baseball America.  He was the #2 prospect for the Diamondbacks in 2018.  Banda had been a starter with a 3.90 ERA throughout the minors until 2018, when he had Tommy John Surgery.  He worked mostly as a starter in 2019 after returning, but was shifted to the bullpen in Triple-A after his struggles.

Banda will report to Sacramento and try to continue his comeback from Tommy John.

Joey Rickard goes to the IL after just four games in the Majors this season.  It’s believed that he injured his elbow on his throw.  He will miss the rest of the season.

While the Giants mostly stood pat, every other team in the NL West had at least one trade involving a starting player.  The Padres made five trades in the three days before the deadline, collecting help in their rotation, bullpen, at catcher, and on the bench for their playoff run behind stars Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis, Jr.  The Arizona Diamondbacks traded away three MLB players as they went into sell mode while in last place.  The Colorado Rockies added outfielder and former Giant Kevin Pillar from the Boston Red Sox.  Pillar, on his fourth team in two years, was hitting .274 with four HR and 13 RBIs in 30 games.  And the league-leading Dodgers traded away former All-Star starting pitcher Ross Stripling to the Blue Jays, gaining two PTBNL while dealing from an area where they have depth.