SF Giants trade their longest-tenured player to Reds for reliever Young

The Giants announced on Sunday evening that they have traded outfielder Austin Slater and cash considerations to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for former Giant left-handed pitcher Alex Young, ending Slater’s decade-long tenure with the organization.

Young, 30, was subsequently optioned to Triple-A Sacramento. The Giants have not announced who will take Slater’s place on the active roster.

Slater, 31, was selected by the Giants in the eighth round of the 2014 MLB Draft out of Stanford and has spent his entire professional career in the San Francisco organization. Before being traded, Slater was the longest-tenured Giant on the active roster. Over eight major-league seasons with the Giants, Slater posted a .254 batting average and .736 OPS with 39 home runs, 47 steals and 162 RBIs.

The veteran outfielder has been a solid hitter for most of his career (106 OPS+ from 2017 to 2023) but is in the midst of the worst offensive season of his career. Over 43 games, Slater is posting career worsts in batting average (.200), slugging percentage (.244) and OPS (.575). In his last 10 games prior to being traded, Slater had a .154 batting average and .457 OPS. Those numbers have partially been due to injuries; after spending most of spring training recovering from right elbow surgery, Slater went on the injured list in mid-May due to a concussion.

Young has appeared in parts of six major-league seasons and owns a career 4.40 ERA with 226 strikeouts over 264 innings. In 2022, the Giants acquired Young via trade from the Guardians in exchange for cash considerations. With San Francisco, the left-hander posted a 2.39 ERA over 26 1/3 innings with 20 strikeouts.

He left in free agency following that season and signed with the Reds.

In 2023, Young posted a 3.86 ERA and 4.99 FIP over 53 2/3 innings with Cincinnati, totaling 50 strikeouts to 20 walks and 10 home runs allowed. The left-hander began the season on the injured list due to a lower back injury and has appeared in just three major-league games this season, allowing no runs in two innings. In 23 games with the Reds’ Triple-A affiliate, Young has a 1.19 ERA with 22 strikeouts over 22 2/3 innings.