The San Francisco Giants spent over $700 million in free agency the last two winters. They got nothing for it. Now they are reportedly ready to admit the truth.
According to a report from The Athletic, the Giants are open to trading Rafael Devers, Matt Chapman, and Willy Adames before the deadline. All three are All-Star caliber. All three are signed to long-term contracts. And all three play for a team currently fourth in the NL West.
This is the moment Buster Posey took the front office job to make happen. The Giants have been stuck in mediocrity since the dynasty ended, and the only way out is to tear it down to the studs.
Devers is the biggest name. The Giants traded for him last summer after Boston shipped him out, and he has hit 18 homers with a .780 OPS this season. That is good but not great. Combine that with five years of $215 million still owed on his deal and you get a contract no contender wants to absorb without major prospect compensation.
Chapman is more movable. He is having a strong defensive year at third base, the bat has been steady, and his contract has team-friendly opt-out structure. A contending team like Detroit or Philadelphia could plug him in tomorrow.
Adames is the most interesting case. He signed a seven-year, $182 million deal in December and has been a disaster. He is hitting .218 with poor defensive metrics. The Giants would have to eat money to get him moved, but his power potential could still play in a different ballpark.
The bigger story here is what the Giants are admitting. The Posey-Farhan Zaidi pivot does not work. The veteran free-agent approach failed. The team needs prospects, and the only way to get them is by trading the contracts that everyone said were going to fix the franchise.
Logan Webb deserves better. Patrick Bailey deserves better. Heliot Ramos deserves better. The young core that San Francisco hoped to build around has been buried by free-agent additions that did not move the needle.
Other teams are paying attention. The Yankees, Phillies, Dodgers, and Padres have all been linked to Chapman in recent weeks. The Mets have been mentioned in connection with Devers. Even small-market teams like the Royals could surprise if the Giants are willing to eat enough money.
The Giants front office has been pretending this is a contending team since spring training. Buster Posey, to his credit, is not pretending anymore. If you want to win in San Francisco again, you do it through pitching development and a real farm system, not by stacking $25 million sluggers.
Will the moves actually happen by July 31? That is the question. The names are out there. The willingness is out there. Now the Giants need contenders to step up with the prospect packages that justify a full teardown.
This is the right call. It is also the embarrassing call. Both can be true.
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.
