Talk about burying the lede:
It's a bit hard to understand why the Oklahoma City Diamond Kings, sitting in 3rd place in the MGL, would trade away one of their more talented starting pitchers, the durable curveball specialist Dan Knauff, to San Francisco for what amounts to a good glove/poor bat backup infielder and a 23-year old starting pitcher with low stamina and very little overall potential.
I suppose it might free up some money as Knauff is arbitration eligible at the end of the season and due to get a big raise, though it does nothing for this season's finances. And maybe even more to the point, it frees up a spot in the rotation for top prospect Steve Meehan. And it is a case of trading from a strength, as the Diamond Kings are first in the league in run's allowed and starter's ERA. But the real question isn't why they would trade Knauff, it is why they didn't get more value in return? They are already a strong defensive team but rank 6th in the league in runs scored. This trade does nothing to address that deficit.