Giants trade Austin Jackson, Cory Gearrin, prospect Jason Bahr to Rangers

This afternoon the San Francisco Giants traded outfielder Austin Jackson, right-handed pitcher Cory Gearrin, and pitching prospect Jason Bahr to the Texas Rangers for a player to be named later and/or cash considerations.

This is a typical mid-season salary dump. We don’t know who the PTDB going from Texas to California will be, but here’s some information on the known minor leaguer involved, Jason Bahr.

Jason Bahr, RHP: The Giants drafted Jason Bahr in the fifth round in 2017 from the University of Central Florida. Bahr had a strange college career, actually being cut at one point, but he had a very sharp 2017 season, posting a 2.97 ERA in 61 innings for the Knights with an excellent 98/15 K/BB, mainly as a reliever.

The Giants have made him a full-time starter and he’s performed well. He’s split 2018 between Low-A Augusta and High-A San Jose, posting a combined 2.55 ERA with a 103/23 K/BB in 85 innings with just 64 hits allowed.

Bahr is a 6-5, 190 pound right-hander born February 15th, 1995. His fastball is average for a right-hander in the 90-94 range but he throws strikes and mixes in a slider, curveball, and change-up. Scouting grades for his pitches are individually mixed (Baseball Census has a good breakdown and detailed scouting report here) but he commands everything well and hitters just seem to have a hard time picking him up.

While the press attention for this deal will focus on veterans Jackson and Gearrin, Bahr is pretty interesting himself and a nice acquisition for the Rangers as a possible inning-eating four-pitch starter. I’d give him a solid Grade C+ with more possible as we get data from higher levels.

Baseball Census video: