Giants cap big Deadline with deal for Moore

SAN FRANCISCO — The coming weeks, months and years will demonstrate whether the Giants’ deals for left-handers Matt Moore and Will Smith on Monday shortly before the non-waiver Trade Deadline improved their competitiveness.

The more immediate impact of these transactions was one of surprise, which is likely to reverberate this week but should vanish once the Giants remind themselves that they’re competing for a postseason spot. They entered Tuesday leading the second-place Dodgers in the National League West by two games.

• Giants add left-hander Smith in deal with Brewers

Sentiment aside, the Giants upgraded their starting rotation by adding Moore, whose skills are widely praised, and bolstered their bullpen with Smith, who will attempt to fill the void created by Jeremy Affeldt’s retirement.

However, both moves forced the Giants to part with cherished individuals. They sent popular third baseman Matt Duffy, highly rated infield prospect Lucius Fox and Minor League right-hander Michael Santos to Tampa Bay for Moore. San Francisco parted with its top pitching prospect, Phil Bickford, and catcher Andrew Susac to get Smith from Milwaukee.

Thus, within a few short hours, the Giants parted with the reigning Willie Mac Award winner (Duffy) and the organization’s Nos. 1 and 4 prospects, according to MLBPipeline.com (Bickford and Fox, respectively). Duffy was expected to return soon from a left Achilles injury; instead, third base will belong to Eduardo Nunez, freshly acquired from the Twins, and Conor Gillaspie.

Duffy, 25, hit .253 with four home runs and 21 RBIs in 70 games for the Giants this season. Fox, 19, batted .207 with 12 extra-base hits in 75 games for Class A Augusta. Santos, 21, went 4-2 with a 2.91 ERA in 10 starts for Augusta.

Duffy is expected to become Tampa Bay’s everyday shortstop, his position in college. He’ll play alongside All-Star third baseman Evan Longoria, who preceded Duffy as a “Dirtbag” at Long Beach State University. Duffy said that Longoria has already welcomed him to the Rays via text message.

“It was bittersweet,” Duffy said of his reaction to the trade. “The group of guys, the coaching staff, the front office, the fans — everything about San Francisco is first class. It’s not an accident why they’ve been so successful the last 10 years or so.”

Giants general manager Bobby Evans, who called yielding …

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