What it would look like if the Giants were sellers at the trade deadline

New York Times

3 days ago

If you're an optimist, you're convinced the Giants are just having a bad week. Here's a better trade deadline article for you. And you might be right. It's been a brutal start to the second half, but it hasn't been a disqualifying one. It's certainly magnified by the long break and anticipation that comes with a new half, but that doesn't mean it's more than a lousy couple of games.
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If you're a pessimist, friend, are you in the right spot. Because there's a chance that this team stinks. I'm pretty sure they're a better team than they've been over their last few games. But they also might stink. They might keep stinking over the next two weeks. When the deadline arrives, it's possible that they could be several games back of multiple teams for the final wild-card spot. It would be much harder to pretend that an all-in strategy is viable, and the phone would start to ring.
Oh, how that phone might ring if the Giants keep stinking.
The Giants wouldn't suddenly be the belles of the deadline ball if they decided to sell. They wouldn't want to move a lot of their best players, and a lot of those players are under contracts that would scare teams away in the first place. But they would certainly have players to offer if their season went south.
Here's a look at the roster, sorted roughly according to how close each player is to free agency. The Giants aren't likely to trade franchise cornerstones, but they'll certainly consider proposals for pending free agents in this scenario, for example.
• Rafael Devers
• Willy Adames
• Matt Chapman
• Jung Hoo Lee
• Logan Webb
They're very different players in very different situations having very different seasons. But one thing they have in common is that they aren't getting traded. This is why the rest of the league wouldn't be that excited if the Giants suddenly became sellers. The players who can most help other teams are the same ones who are supposed to help the 2026 Giants. They're all staying.
• Camilo Doval
• Robbie Ray
If you have greedy designs on other teams' prospects, these are the players to consider. Both of them would absolutely interest a lot of contending teams around the league, and considering that Ray is under contract through next season and Doval through the season after that, their value would be relatively … robust? They're not going to rebuild the foundation of the entire Giants organization with the prospects they might get by trading either player.
And that's if they sell. Which they're still really unlikely to do as of now. Feels like a disclaimer every so often will help us catch our breath. If they do, though, Doval and Ray are the players to watch the closest.
• Justin Verlander
• Mike Yastrzemski
• Tyler Rogers
• Wilmer Flores
• Dominic Smith
There would still be plenty of potential value here, too. It would be in the Giants' best interests to sign Tyler Rogers to a five-year deal with five team options after that, but it's possible I'm biased. And you know a lot of teams would like to add him to their bullpen for October.
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It's not unthinkable that a team would take Verlander as-is, no money down. He's been unlucky, and the market is going to be thin, with even the half-decent pitchers getting plenty of interest. And the outfield market is even thinner than the pitching market, so Yastrzemski could certainly attract attention.
The clubhouse glue market? It's always booming. Flores would help more than a couple teams.
The Giants are hoping all of the above players will be helping the Giants over the next two weeks and make all of these words unnecessary, of course. It's time for another disclaimer break. Not trying to be a downer with this deadline preview, just a practical service journalist.
• Pretty much everyone else
These are the youngest players, from Heliot Ramos to Patrick Bailey to Randy Rodríguez to Casey Schmitt. The Giants would want more in exchange for them than other teams would give up, and rightfully so. They're supposed to help now and in the near future. There's no rush to trade any of them.
It's certainly not impossible that some of these names come up as the Giants get deeper into trade talks with other teams, but an actual trade remains supremely unlikely.
It would be an interesting trade deadline if the Giants decided to sell, but not enough to turn around the farm system all at once. Plus, don't forget they'd rather win and be buyers at the deadline in the first place.
The Giants would get offered at least one top-100 prospect for Ray, considering he's not a rental. Doval's streakiness might freak out teams that are looking toward October, but he still has an elite arm that a lot of pitching coaches and managers would love to have. Beyond those two are plenty of pending free agents who could help a team. It wouldn't be a boring deadline.
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Another idea is for the Giants to start playing better and win a few games. Possibly even a few games in a row. It's way more fun to talk about them acquiring players. Just wait until you read my four-team mock trade involving Carlos Correa coming home to the Giants.
Until then, it would look something like this: A chunk of the core making a lot of money for a long time. Another chunk of the core making a lot less money for a long time. And a sweet spot in the middle, with players who would appeal to contending teams for both this season and possibly next.
Or, again, the Giants could simply pitch better. And hit better. And definitely pitch better in the games when they are hitting better, and vice versa. That's still the preferred option for a lot of folks, and a lot of people are hoping they'll give it the ol' college try.
Prospects would be fun, too. One day, they might be as good as the players the Giants would be trading away, after all. And if 'tis the season to rebuild the farm, here's how the Giants would do it.
Though they would prefer not to try. Feels worth mentioning, at least in passing.
(Top photo of Camilo Doval: Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)