Giants Heading for Fire Sale? San Francisco Considering Trading Rafael Devers and Robbie Ray
The San Francisco Giants might be heading for a fire sale unlike anything we’ve seen from the franchise in years. After a sluggish 16-24 start, the front office is reportedly exploring ways to move several major contracts, with Robbie Ray emerging as the most likely first domino to fall. The list of names being floated is staggering.
Sources close to the situation indicate that the Giants are open to moving Ray, Jung Hoo Lee, Willy Adames, Rafael Devers, and Matt Chapman. That’s $597 million in combined contract obligations being shopped to anyone who will listen. The strategy says everything about how badly the season has gone in San Francisco.
Robbie Ray is the cleanest move. The lefty is having his best season since the 2021 Cy Young campaign with the Blue Jays, posting a sub-3.00 ERA across 12 starts. Contenders are lining up. The Giants can recoup significant prospect capital for him without taking on much salary, and the rotation behind Logan Webb is deep enough to absorb the loss.
The Rafael Devers situation is more complicated. The Giants gave up significant prospects to acquire him last summer in a move that was supposed to anchor the lineup for the next decade. Trading him barely a year later would be one of the most embarrassing front office reversals in recent memory. But $226 million in remaining contract is a brutal pill to keep swallowing if the team isn’t winning.
Matt Chapman has been steady but unspectacular. His $125 million extension was signed in good faith, but his offensive production has dipped enough that the Giants are open to moving the salary. Defensive contenders should be interested. He’s still one of the best third basemen in the National League at his position.
Willy Adames has been the most disappointing piece of the offseason. The Giants signed him to a massive deal expecting an All-Star shortstop. They got a defender who’s slugging under .350. Trading him now would require eating significant money, but the alternative is paying him through 2031 with no clear path to value.
Jung Hoo Lee is the most complicated piece. He’s recovering from a shoulder injury, his bat has been inconsistent, and the $85 million remaining on his deal makes him difficult to move. But he’s also young enough that a contender willing to bet on the upside might be willing to take on the contract.
Giants GM Buster Posey is technically running this thing, and the optics of dismantling a roster he helped build are politically tricky inside the organization. Posey has been on the job barely two years. He inherited some of these contracts and signed others. Now he has to decide whether to admit the plan isn’t working.
The fan base is already restless. Oracle Park attendance has dipped. Local sports radio has been brutal. The Giants are running out of time to convince the city that the rebuild is on track. A fire sale at the deadline would either reset the franchise or accelerate the demise. There’s not much middle ground.
What happens by August 3 will define the next five years of Giants baseball. If Posey and the front office sell aggressively, the rebuild starts. If they hold the line and hope for a second-half turnaround, the trajectory worsens. Either way, San Francisco is the most fascinating team to watch leading into the trade deadline.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
