With this year’s All-Star Game festivities behind us, all eyes will now shift toward the 2021 MLB Trade Deadline. For fans of the Dodgers, any news surrounding the prospective return of starting pitcher Trevor Bauer will surge to the top of the headlines, but in the meantime, all focus will be watching how Los Angeles might improve its player roster.
No doubt, Dodgers fans can be some of the most creative people when it comes to dreaming up hypothetical deals with rival clubs. Even though we’re still more than two weeks away from the deadline, we’ve already been imagining ways on what it would take to bring some top-notch talent to Los Angeles, specifically in the forms of players like Max Scherzer or Richard Rodriguez.
However, for as much as we’ve been speculating internally, rarely do we consider what might happen among the other clubs in the NL West. Early in the year, the Giants were presumed to be bigtime sellers at this summer’s trade deadline. Based on where things stand now, though, both the Giants and Padres will surely look to upgrade their personnel, while the Diamondbacks and Rockies will probably sell off parts of their respective rosters.
Which players end up moving are anybody’s guess. Folks who follow the Dodgers are familiar with San Francisco boss Farhan Zaidi, knowing that his unpredictable nature is part of the reason he’s so successful. While Zaidi and skipper Gabe Kapler might be pretending things are quiet in the San Fran camp, he might just be playing it cool.
“We really like our team,” Zaidi said last weekend. “We like the way the pieces on this team fit. This is some of the best clubhouse team chemistry that I’ve ever been around. Anytime you talk about moves, it’s kind of fun to speculate, but there’s a very real impact on the clubhouse.”
Listed below are a few ideas — from a Los Angeles fan, no less — of how the Giants might proceed on the trade front over the next few weeks.
Starting Pitching
It seems like this year’s top blockbusters might revolve around some of the best starting pitchers that become available. The Giants have a solid ace right now with the re-emergence of Kevin Gausman. Also capable in the two and three slots are Johnny Cueto and Anthony DeSclafani, with Alex Wood a serviceable fourth, at least when he’s throwing well.
After those four starters, though, things become a bit cloudy. Tyler Beede is on his way back from UCL surgery, and Logan Webb has finally returned from the injured list. Those two pitchers could act as mini additions in themselves. Regardless, by adding an established, top-of-the-line arm from the outside, the Giants could conceivably make one of the best rotations of the first half borderline untouchable in the second.
At the same time, by the Giants improving their rotation with a quality starter, it might prevent the Dodgers, who are seemingly in much more need, from doing the same.
The Bullpen
Having one of the best pitching staffs usually involves having a decent bullpen, and the Giants fit that mold, both from a lefty and righty perspective. Their horses this year have been former Dodger southpaw Jake McGee, Tyler Rogers, lefty Jose Alvarez, southpaw Jarlin Garcia and Zack Little. Additionally, both Dominic Leone and Caleb Baragar have sparkled with ERAs under 1.00. Still, there might be room for improvement, especially when considering the recent track record of somebody like McGee and how long he can stay effective.
Dalton Johnson at NBC Sports/Bay Area lists Rodriguez from Pittsburgh and Taylor Rogers out of Minnesota as prospective upgrades, setting up a potential Taylor/Tyler Rogers late-inning, one-two punch.
The San Francisco relief crew is definitely part of the roster to keep an eye on.
A Power Bat
Without question, Brandon Crawford has been huge for the Giants in almost every single offensive category in the first half. And despite a .234 average, Mike Yastrzemski remains a legitimate power threat whenever he arrives at the plate. Right now, though, the Giants have gotten a taste of the injury bug, as Buster Posey, Brandon Belt, and Evan Longoria are all sitting on the injured list.
Bringing in a big bat not just to strengthen the power department, but to also provide depth for further absences might play huge. Accordingly, offense might be a priority for Zaidi and his crew. With Alex Dickerson underperforming in left field and Mike Tauchman also injured, the outfield might be a logical spot to make an addition.
Joey Gallo’s name has already been thrown around the horn by multiple pundits as a potential fit.
Either way, I don’t particularly believe the Giants have the stamina to keep pace the whole way through September, but if they do, they definitely deserve all the credit in the world considering where they’ve been in recent years. Undeniably, strengthening their roster over the next few weeks with a trade or two might give them a better chance of staying on top.
I think Farhan was planning to sell off a lot of his veterans this July but they’ve played so well that they have prevented him from doing so.
Here are my thoughts on some moves they might make:
Starter – Cole Hamels (another pitcher coming back from injury. Just the kind of guy Farhan loves to sign)
Reliever – Yimi Garcia (his main problem here was the home run ball and SF has a bigger park than either LA or Miami, where Yimi has pitched well)
Infield – Trevor Story (could play him at third or second if they decide to keep Crawford at short, although Story is probably the better shortstop). I expect them to sign one of the major free agent shortstops this winter so this would give them a head start to see how they liked each other.
Outfield – Mitch Haniger (would give them a good outfielder with 1.5 years of control)
Zaidi was prepared to clean house as he has a lot of aging veterans making high salaries, according to previous reports from Bay Area people in the know.
The Giants have several guys having career years and you wonder if they can continue for the entire season. I think they will fall back a bit and perhaps win a playoff slot.
I think Story is a difference-maker but will the Rockies trade within the division or is it just the Dodgers they hate?
Huge props to Zaidi and the Giant Organization for having a terrific half-season. I like them as an organization more than the Padres.
Not sure the Giants have the guys in an already depleted minor league system to acquire any “big names.”
A team prospect rating I saw recently had the Giants in the top half of MLB teams and ahead of the Dodgers.
Another rating I saw just before this season had them with 4 prospects in the top 100 where we only had 2 (Ruiz and Gray).
I think the Giants have the prospects to get something done. The question is, do they want to use their best prospects to do it?
They’ve got a few:
https://www.fangraphs.com/prospects/the-board/2021-in-season-prospect-list/summary?sort=-1,1&type=0&filter=&pos=&team=sfg
I don’t believe Farhan will want to move the top 3.
They love their #1 guy, Luciano so I would agree he’s very unlikely to go anywhere.
Bart, on the other hand shows good hit tools but a number of people don’t think he’ll stick at catcher. Farhan may not think so either because their number one pick last year was another catcher, Patrick Bailey, who is considered much better defensively. If they keep him Bart will probably go to first base or DH.
Slow night with no game. I have no clue why I’m analyzing the Giants farm system. Highly unlikely that anyone who reads this will care. We have a hard enough time keeping track of our own and now we’ve got another 19 (if we sign them all) to throw into the hopper.
I care. I think Dodger fans are waiting to see what they do. Whatever it is, it will be in an effort to beat us.
Thank you for caring, Scoop.
This is truly one of those years where winning will be especially rewarding because the competition is so fierce. As a fan a battle right down to the wire makes for much better viewing………………………………….as long as my team comes out on top.
Reks optioned to OKC, one roster spot open until Friday. Sherfy looks like a low risk pick up. He has good K ratio numbers, but I am not sure where he fits in this pen. I see Reed being sent back down soon.
I figured out Bellinger’s problem I saw a clip of him hitting for his cycle when he was a rookie. His hair now is way too long and throwing his swing off balance. Cut the hair, raise the average.
Yeah, what’s with the “I just fell out of bed” look he’s been doing for the past couple years?
He does look stoned too
https://twitter.com/okc_dodgers/status/1415814058540929025
Dennis, is there any way to see the OKC Dodgers play? Andy gave me the tip on Bilas Sport that has worked well for blacked-out Dodger games. Thanks again Andy! They blackout Tucson for Padres games!
I would love to watch OKC and Tulsa games but do not see that they are broadcast. If not the Dodgers and the minor league teams are missing out on revenue
Right now, the only way I know is by subscribing to MiLB.tv. Prices at this point of the season are like $38 for the rest of the year or like $13/month. I remember a few years back you could click on Gameday and get free audio thru milb.com, but they aren’t doing that anymore. If you’re interested, click on this link, then click on the little TV icon in the upper right: https://www.milb.com/gameday/aces-vs-dodgers/2021/07/15/645522#game_state=live,game_tab=,game=645522
Thanks Dennis. I subscribe to MLB to get the Dodgers. Didn’t realize they had Milb.
Strange they have Josiah Gray throwing in relief tonight.
Looks like they had an Opener.
Would love to see Joey Bart brought up either at catcher or 1st Base already !! With Belt & Posey both out, why is Bart still in AAA???? Is Casali that good (.170) ??
I assume you’re a Giants fan. As a Dodgers fan I’d much rather they keep Casali up and Joey in the minors.