Giants acquire Guardians prospect Nate Furman to complete Alex Cobb trade

A trade nearly a month in the making between the Giants and Cleveland Guardians officially is complete.

The Giants received Guardians infield prospect Nate Furman as the player to be named later in a deal that sent pitcher Alex Cobb to Cleveland on July 30 and also delivered left-handed pitcher Jacob Bresnahan to San Francisco. The Furman news first was reported by FanSided's Robert Murray on Monday and later announced by the team.

Furman turned 23 in July and was selected in the fourth round of the 2022 MLB Draft by the Guardians. He's currently on the minor league 60-day injured list with a right shoulder strain after slashing .125/.300/.200 in 51 plate appearances with Cleveland's Double-A affiliate, but those struggles -- both in the box and with his health -- came after the infielder lit it up in High-A with a .338/.417/.500 batting line in 176 PAs.

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Primarily a second and third baseman with the Guardians, Furman saw time at both middle infield positions during his time at the University of North Carolina and also offers speed on the bases, swiping 47 bags on 54 attempts in his professional career.

Cobb, who spent two seasons with the Giants in 2022 and 2023, made two starts for the Guardians after the trade before landing back on the IL with a broken fingernail last Monday. The pitcher spent the first half of the 2024 MLB season sidelined for San Francisco after undergoing offseason hip surgery and returned to the mound with Cleveland on Aug. 9.

In his first Guardians start, Cobb went 4 2/3 innings and allowed five runs, four earned, on nine hits with one strikeout and one walk in a 6-3 loss to the Minnesota Twins. He improved in his second start with Cleveland, pitching 5 2/3 innings and allowing just one run on three hits with three strikeouts and two walks, earning the decision in a 6-1 win over the Chicago Cubs.

With Robbie Ray set to undergo an MRI on Monday after exiting the Giants' loss to the Seattle Mariners on Sunday with hamstring tightness, San Francisco certainly is short on starting-pitching depth. But with Cobb back on the IL, there's no telling if he would have made any sort of difference had he remained in the Bay.