As the MLB approaches the trade deadline the San Francisco Giants have a tough decision. After a 4-game sweep against the Rockies, the Giants are 3.5 games back from the third wild card spot. With 54 games left to play the Giants have one of the easiest remaining schedules in the majors with their next 12 games being against teams with losing records. So it begs the question of whether the Giants should sell or continue to buy in on a roster that has yet to find their rhythm.
Should The Giants Buy Or Sell at the Trade Deadline?
Sell
Blake Snell
If the Giants consider selling they should look at Blake Snell. Snell signed a 2 year $62 million contract this past off-season and hasn’t been able to return value due to constant injuries. However, since the All-Star break, Snell has a 0.75 earned run average and a 2.07 fielding independent pitching in those four starts. Teams have generated interest in the star ace, making him a hot topic at this deadline. If the Giants were to trade Snell and give up on this losing season, they could bring back a haul of prospects. It could be worth it for the Giants to try and stockpile as much young talent as possible to jumpstart a rebuild and escape mediocrity.
Camilo Doval
With the market relievers currently have the Giants could bring in a huge haul for Camilo Doval. Doval has struggled this season with a 4.39 earned run average and his walks percentage has skyrocketed to 13.8 percent compared to last year at 9.3 percent. What this means is that Doval is walking more batters putting himself in extremely dangerous positions. Although Doval hasn’t been his best this season he still has the talent to be one of the best closers in all of baseball, so it makes him a great trade target.
An example of how valuable relievers are right now is the Phillies trade with the Angels, giving up two top 15 prospects within the Phillies system to bring back closer Carlos Estévez. Doval has multiple years of team control left on his contract which is very enticing for teams. The Giants could potentially bring in highly rated prospects for Doval instead of paying the all-star closer upwards of $50 million.
Buy
If the Giants decide to buy into this team they should look at second base and the outfield as positions to upgrade. First looking at second base, potential trade targets that would help the Giants tremendously would be Luis Rengifo. First looking at Rengifo he has an OPS of .769 and a wRC+ of 118 meaning he’s hitting 18 percent better than league average. The Giants’ second basemen currently have an OPS of .632 and a 76 wRC+. So the Giants at second are lacking any hitting and could use a player like Renigfo to provide above-league-average offense. The price for Renigo is much more steep as he has another year of team control after this season. Still, if the Giants decide to make this move it would help their lineup tremendously and help them make a strong case for a wild card push.
In the outfield, the Giants could use an upgrade in left field. Michael Conforto has struggled since June as he has a .157 batting average and an .568 OPS. He’s far underperforming what the Giants expected him to do when he came to San Francisco. A target that could help them there is Taylor Ward. Ward hasn’t had his best season, but all of his expected numbers look amazing. Currently, Ward’s slugging percentage is at .401, but his expected slugging percentage is .474 and he also has 16 home runs on the year so far, which is six more than Conforto. Ward or another outfield target could help the Giants improve in an area where they haven’t seen much production. These small moves could help significantly in such a tight race for the third wild card spot in the National League.
The Giants have to make a tough decision by Tuesday’s deadline whether or not they’ll buy for a playoff push or sell and rebuild for the future. The worst outcome for Giants fans is if the team stands put and potentially loses players like Matt Chapman and Snell for nothing.
Main Image: D. Ross Cameron-USA TODAY Sports
