With four days to go until MLB reaches the July 30 trade deadline, the vast majority of clubs around the league have a clear direction.
At the outset of the regular season, many expected the Giants to be in position to sell at the deadline and unload a handful of players finishing up one-year contracts. Yet with the deadline only days away, Farhan Zaidi’s club owns the best record in the majors and is still in front of the Dodgers and Padres in a National League West race that figures to come down to the wire.
For the first time since 2016, the Giants are locked in as buyers.
A team with a 62-37 record expects several key players such as Brandon Crawford, Evan Longoria and Brandon Belt to return from the injured list within the next two weeks, but it’s likely Zaidi and general manager Scott Harris will spend the week looking outside the organization for reinforcements.
As the Giants prepare for a postseason push, another starting pitcher, an extra bullpen arm and a quality outfield bat could help transform the roster. Here’s a look at one player from 10 different teams expected to sell at the deadline who could provide immediate help in San Francisco.
Chicago Cubs: Kris Bryant
Closer Craig Kimbrel is also an excellent fit for a club that’s had one of the best bullpens in baseball this season, but Bryant might be the best possible upgrade the Giants could find on the rental market because he’s so versatile.
A former MVP who has posted an .853 OPS with 17 homers this season, Bryant could help the Giants in a variety of ways because he’s played five different positions this year and is comfortable moving around the diamond. Acquiring the pending free agent would be a huge boost for the lineup, but it also may give the Giants an upper hand in signing Bryant to a long-term deal this offseason.
Colorado Rockies: Jon Gray
Pulling off a trade within your own division is difficult at the deadline, but it’s not impossible.
A deadline deal the Giants made with the Rockies in 2012 brought Marco Scutaro to San Francisco and Gray might be able to have a similar impact in the starting rotation that Scutaro had in the lineup. Over his last six outings, Gray has struck out 41 batters in 35 innings while posting a 2.57 ERA.
A left-handed starting pitcher may be preferable for the Giants to create more balance in a possible postseason rotation, but Gray has great upside and may not cost much in terms of prospect capital because he’s a rental.
Texas Rangers: Kyle Gibson
The name most fans want to see here is outfielder Joey Gallo, a power-hitting slugger under team control through 2022, but acquiring Gallo would almost assuredly force the Giants to part with catching prospect Joey Bart.
It’s more realistic to look at another player under team control through next season, Gibson, as the likeliest addition from the Rangers as the right-hander is in the midst of a career year and is only slated to make about $7.7 million next season. Low strikeout totals (7.5 per nine innings) are a concern that Gibson may regress, but he’s only given up 0.7 home runs per nine innings this year.
Miami Marlins: Starling Marte
Former Giants outfielder Adam Duvall is another player the Marlins are reportedly shopping, but Marte is the slugger San Francisco has been tied to for the last week or so.
With a 135 OPS+ and an on-base percentage above .400, Marte has the offensive profile that suggests he’d be a good fit in the Giants’ outfield, but he also has a surprisingly low average exit velocity (17th percentile) and a middle-of-the-road chase rate (44th percentile) that might make a front office wonder if his high on-base clip is sustainable.
The other concern with Marte is his injury history, but let’s be clear: He would be an upgrade in center field for the Giants and his long track record at the major league level should be an appealing consideration for the front office.
Pittsburgh Pirates: Richard Rodríguez
The Pirates closer is one of the higher-profile relievers on the market this month, but he’s essentially a right-handed Jake McGee as Rodríguez throws his fastball on more than 85 percent of his pitches.
Rodríguez’s 2.82 ERA and 14 saves indicate Kapler would have another option to mix in with McGee and Tyler Rogers in the eighth and ninth innings, so if the price is right, it might be worth overlooking the loud contact Rodríguez gives up (6th percentile in average exit velocity) because he almost never walks hitters.
Left-hander Tyler Anderson, who pitched in the Giants’ rotation last year, is expected to be on the move, but if Zaidi wanted Anderson on the 2021 roster, the club would have tendered him a contract last December.
Minnesota Twins: Kenta Maeda
A Twins team that entered the season with high hopes is expected to be one of the biggest sellers at the deadline as the list of players who could be made available ranges from third baseman Josh Donaldson to ace José Berrios.
Left-hander Taylor Rogers, twin brother of Tyler, would be an excellent addition to the Giants’ bullpen, but one under-the-radar player who could be a strong fit for San Francisco is righty Kenta Maeda.
Zaidi had Maeda in Los Angeles when he was the Dodgers’ general manager and knows he can provide consistency out of the rotation and in the bullpen and while Maeda has a 4.63 ERA on the year, his ERA in four July starts is just 2.35.
After watching what LaMonte Wade Jr. has done this season, however, the Twins may not want to pick up the phone when Zaidi calls.
Kansas City Royals: Danny Duffy
Multiple reports have now tied the Giants to Danny Duffy, a veteran left-hander who is currently on the injured list with a left flexor strain that might keep him out until late August or September.
That doesn’t sound like the most appealing type of addition, but the Giants expect to get Aaron Sanchez and Sammy Long back from the injured list in the near future and won’t need to rush Duffy back if they acquire him.
It shouldn’t cost much to add a rental who might only be available for four-to-five starts before October, and by the time Duffy is healthy and ready to pitch, the Giants may have new injury concerns that would allow him to slide into the rotation.
Detroit Tigers: Robbie Grossman
With Belt set to return from the injured list soon and Wade likely to see more playing time in left field, it’s unlikely the Giants view adding a left-handed outfield bat as a priority at the moment. With that being said, Grossman has reverse splits for his career that have become even more pronounced in 2021 as he’s posted an .861 OPS against southpaws.
Grossman, who is under contract through 2022, would be an upgrade over Mike Tauchman, who has played excellent defense but has been a liability at the plate for the Giants this season.
Los Angeles Angels: Raisel Iglesias
The Angles are one of the few teams still waiting to determine whether they should buy or sell, but if they do concede that securing a wild card spot is unlikely, Iglesias should have a strong market.
He’s a tier below Kimbrel as a closer and potentially less desirable for some teams that Rodríguez, but with a career-high 13.5 strikeouts per nine innings and a long track record of experience in the ninth inning, he has a few qualities that would make him a great fit in the Giants’ bullpen.
There’s no guarantee Iglesias would immediately become the Giants’ closer (that 1.8 home runs per nine innings rate is worrisome), but he would provide Kapler with another established high-leverage option.
Washington Nationals: Daniel Hudson
If general manager Mike Rizzo makes him available, ace Max Scherzer would automatically become the top player on the market this week.
But a Nationals franchise that refuses to give up hope may need to be overwhelmed to move Scherzer. If a NL West executive is going to go to those lengths, it’ll be Padres GM A.J. Preller and not Zaidi who sells the farm.
Hudson, on the other hand, could be a bargain addition for a team that would obviously benefit from having a reliever with a 2.27 ERA and a career-high 13.4 strikeouts per nine innings in the mix. The most intriguing aspect of adding Hudson, however, might be that Zaidi, Harris and Kapler place a lot of value on their clubhouse chemistry, and one of the most well-respected pitchers in the majors who also has experience getting the final out of Game 7 of a World Series should be a seamless fit.
