Passan drops BIG Giants trade... | SF Giants News

Somebody who was hitting .293 in AAA just got traded for a pitcher who has thrown just six innings as a professional. That was the San Francisco Giants today. Jeff Passan reports Nate Furman is going to the Nationals for left-hander Tony Newbeck, sources tell ESPN. And Passan makes it extremely clear there are more moves like this coming before tomorrow's cut down to 40. So why Furman went, who is Newbeck, and what is Buster Posey trying to build? Let's get into it. Before we get too deep into today's video, make sure to go down below, hit that like button, hit that subscribe button, it's the easiest way to help support this channel, and about 75% of you guys watching these videos are not actually subscribed to the channel. It's completely free, takes just a second of your time, and it'd be much appreciated. So let's start with Nate Furman, because it's been an interesting ride for him. We'll start with what he's done in his little time in the big leagues. In 22 games with the San Francisco Giants in 2026, Furman went 4-for-32 with a .125 average, no extra base hits. He walked 5 times and struck out 10 times in 39 plate appearances. It's a pretty small sample, and it is all the Giants ever saw of him in the big leagues. The other part of this conversation specifically is how well he did in the minor leagues. In 102 games at AAA in 2026, he hit .293 with a .377 on-base percentage. He also tapped into a little bit more extra base power with 25 doubles, 7 home runs, and 19 stolen bases, which was good for a .791 OPS at the level right below the big leagues. Now 2025 was what made me think that Nate Furman might have had an actual future with the San Francisco Giants. After a shoulder strain he hit .369 with 7 home runs in just 36 minor league games across a couple of levels. And in 2023 with the Guardians organization before getting sent to the San Francisco Giants in his first full pro year he stole 37 bases across 108 games with a .397 on base percentage. This is a guy who hit for average and got on base every single place he went, and we know Buster Posey, Zach Minassian, and this entire regime love the guys who get on base. Furman was a fourth round pick of the Guardians in 2022 out of UNC Charlotte, where he hit .371 in 2022, and he came to San Francisco in 2024 as the player to be named later in the Alex Cobb deal. The other prospect in that deal, Jacob Bresnahan, has turned into one of the Giants' best pitching prospects. Now one last thing I want to shout out about Nate Furman, he had 37 stolen bases in 2023 and 19 in 2026, which meant speed was always a part of his game, and it's something that the Giants have needed over the past few years, so it's unfortunate that they never got to use that part of his game. Now Furman definitely has a capped ceiling, and he is more of a profile of a bench piece for another team. The Nationals get to find out if he can be more than that. Now let's take a wider look at the trade itself, because it's more of a math problem. Nubik is a southpaw who just made his debut as a professional in the minor leagues, meaning he will not have to take up a 40-man spot with the San Francisco Giants. Furman, on the other hand, was taking up a 40-man spot, so the Giants turned one spot on the 40-man into a lottery ticket in the farm system without losing one of those sacred spots. Now, of course, as Jeff Passan mentioned, this is all just the start of a flurry of moves from Buster Posey and the San Francisco Giants as they ran out of room. on the 40-man roster at the end of last season. Back on October 9th, the San Francisco Standard counted 57 players under team control, and 17 of them were on the 60-day injured list. As you know, the 40-man was completely full, but after this trade, MLB Trade Rumors has the Giants at 49 guys. Tomorrow is the day that all of those guys on the 60-day injured list return to the 40-man roster. That's why passing calls the cut down to 40, happening tomorrow. Now, we saw our first wave of moves due to this situation a few days ago. Jason Foley, Matt Gage were outrighted on October 30th, Andrew Kisner on October 31st, and then as we all know, the Seattle Mariners claimed Grant McRae off of waivers. This is a Giants team coming off of a 65-97 season, almost losing 100 games, with a run differential of minus 91, so clearly nobody is going to get a pass. Now, JT Brubaker is the only Giant who became a free agent, but the SF Standard also named Ryan Walker and Harrison Bader as players at risk, which of course, those are two very notable names with the Giants. Either way, it is clear that Nate Furman is not going to be the last move before tomorrow. But, hats off to Buster Posey because he did not just dump Furman for nothing, and that's where this gets pretty interesting. Tony Nubek is a 23-year-old left-hander with a story, and it all starts at Missouri. In 2022, he made 15 appearances and struck out 60 batters in 54.1 innings with a 5-6-3 ERA. 2023, on the flip side, was much better. He struck out 28 batters in 18.2 innings, a 3-8-6 ERA. Then, his elbow went. Unfortunately, his Tommy John recovery took over two seasons. He came back in 2025 and it was rough for him, a 16.62 ERA in 17.1 innings with 9 home runs allowed. We see plenty of guys hang up the cleats after a season like that, but not Nubek. In 2026, he made 14 starts at the University of Indiana and went 7-4 with a 3.95 ERA. He struck out 75 batters in just over 70 innings, which comes out to about 9.6 strikeouts per 9 innings and walked 27. One of the biggest developments was how good he controlled the long ball. At Missouri in 2022, he gave up 15 home runs in just over 54 innings. At Indiana in 2026, he gave up just 7 in 70.2 innings. His walk rate also dropped from 4.8 walks per 9 in 2022 to 3.4 in 2026. Across four collegiate seasons, he finished 12-12 with a 5.87 ERA and 178 strikeouts in 161 innings. So, last year is the outlier, but in the best way possible. He signed with Washington this past year as an undrafted free agent, and at single-A Fredericksburg in 2026, he threw six innings, allowed no runs, struck out eight, and walked one. An impressive debut. Of course, that is a small sample, but that comes out to about 12 strikeouts per 9 innings and 1.5 walks per 9 innings. According to one scouting post, he has a fastball in the low to mid 90s with carry, a slider, changeup, and a cutter. So of course, this isn't an extremely notable acquisition for the farm system of the San Francisco Giants, but a southpaw that's bouncing back from Tommy John with a good strikeout rate is a ticket worth buying. And this is nothing new, because we've seen what Buster Posey has done over the last few months. In this summer's draft, he started by taking a wave of talented arms. He started by taking Jackson Flora from UCSB with the No. 4 overall pick. Then came who some had as the second best arm in the entire class, left-hander Carson Bolleman at No. 29 overall. And running out the Giants' top three picks in the class, Caden Wachter at No. 55 overall. Again, three pitchers to open the class. Of course, Jackson Flora jumped to the top of this farm system and towards the top of some top 100 lists. But Posey also added some arms at this year's trade deadline. On August 3rd, Buster Posey kept going. Of course, we saw Anthony Molina in the big leagues this season. But the most notable arm that came back at this year's trade deadline was in the Luis Arias trade, Ramon Marquez. Marquez is now a consensus top 100 prospect and arguably has the best changeup in the minor leagues. Not to mention Miguel Mendez, who came from the Padres in the Robbie Ray deal with a fastball that touches 100 and some serious reliever upside. And lastly, Henry Lallain was one of the Yankees' top pitching prospects when he came to the Giants in the Elliott Ramos trade. First, it was the draft, then the deadline, and now Nieuwbeek for Furman. The direction is the same every single time. Stack the arms. And of course, the clock is another reason that Buster Posey is moving extremely fast. The Giants have just 30 days until December 1st when the CBA is expected to go out and a lockout begins. And as of now, we have no clue what this CBA and the lockout means for this year's Rule 5 draft. The reason I point that out is because every single roster spot is going to matter over these next few weeks. Now again, here is the biggest part of this entire conversation. As we all expect Jeff Passan to be right, Furman is just the first of a handful of moves to come in the coming hours and the start of tomorrow. Buster Posey has his work cut out for him. With the plethora of names coming off the 60-day injured list, there's going to be a lot of work. And one name I'm extremely interested to see what the Giants do is Harrison Bader. Of course, we all know what took place this summer. Now let me know down in the comment section below. What moves are you expecting to see from Buster Posey, Zach Minassian, and the entire San Francisco Giants organization over the next 24 hours? Of course, there's some easy releases, some easy DFAs, but there's also going to be some difficult decisions for Buster Posey and company. Let me know your thoughts down in the comment section below, and if you enjoyed, hit that like button, hit that subscribe button. It's the easiest way to support the channel, and really helps us continue to bring the best Giants content and analysis on YouTube. Thanks for watching.