San Francisco Giants: Three Possible Trade Candidates

The San Francisco Giants are currently 4.5 games out of the second Wild Card spot and 5.5 games out of first place in the National League West.  The Giants made some significant additions in the offseason, but expect them to make more additions this trade season.

According to Mark Feinsand on Twitter, the San Francisco Giants do not have plans to be sellers and they will have their eye on controllable players.

The Giants do not shy away from making moves.  Over the offseason, they acquired Evan Longoria from the Tampa Bay Rays and Andrew McCutchen from the Pittsburgh Pirates.  They also signed Tony Watson, Nick Hundley, and Austin Jackson.

According to Henrey Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle, Giants General Manager Bobby Evans is currently concerned with the team exceeding the $197 million luxury-tax threshold.  Due to this, the San Francisco Giants may need to move other salaries before acquiring any other players.

Despite signing Jackson in the offseason, the Giants moved him to the Texas Rangers in a salary dump.  The trade freed up around $2 million for San Francisco.

According to the Salaries and Contracts page on baseball-reference, the Giants are currently at $196.4 million in team salary.  Hunter Pence is currently making $18.5 million on the last year of his contract, so he could be a trade option.  Sam Dyson is currently making $4.42 million and is eligible for arbitration two more times, so he could also be a trade option.

However, as the Giants value the leadership from Pence, they may not be interested in moving him.  It is not easy to move larger contracts.  Taking all of this into account, the following players would fit more easily into the Giants budget and should be targeted at the trade deadline.

The Cincinnati Reds made a very underrated move during the 2018 offseason.  They signed relief pitched Jared Hughes to a two-year contract with a team option for a third year.  Hughes could now help the Giants in their quest for the postseason.

Despite six productive seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Jared Hughes was released prior to the 2017 season.  The Milwaukee Brewers picked him up and Hughes had a very productive season.

In 2017, he pitched 59.2 innings with a 3.02 ERA, a 3.93 FIP, and a 1.223 WHIP.  This led the Reds to sign him as a free agent.  He has been nothing short of phenomenal for Cincinnati this season.

Through 52.0 innings pitched, he holds a 1.56 ERA, a 3.04 FIP, and a 1.096 WHIP.  He also holds a 2.86 strikeout-to-walk ratio, which is the highest of his career.

Hughes also keeps the ball in the ballpark.  Over the course of his career, he has averaged a 0.62 home runs allowed per nine innings.  This season he’s even lower at 0.35.

The San Francisco Giants would not have to get overly creative in order to acquire Hughes.  He would only be owed the prorated amount of his $2.125 million contract this season, so the Giants would not have to get rid of Hunter Pence or Sam Dyson to acquire him.

The Giants could instead look to move a player such as Gregor Blanco or Derek Holland to make enough room for the right-handed reliever

Moving a player or two to clear enough payroll would be worth it to acquire Hughes as he holds an incredible 89.0% left-on-base percentage.  He would a very effective reliever that would help both now and in the future.

After losing many of their top players over the last few seasons to free agency and trades, the Kansas City Royals are in rebuilding mode.  Although White Merrifield is controllable through the 2023 season, he is 29 years old, so he may not fit the Royals rebuild mentality.  On the other hand, he would fit into the Giants plans.

This season, Whit Merrifield holds a .370 on-base percentage and a .420 slugging percentage.  Brandon Belt is the only Giants player with higher numbers in both of those categories.  As Belt is an incredibly valuable member to the Giants, this should show how valuable Merrifield could be for San Francisco.

Merrifield’s value does not stop at the offensive side.  Over the course of his MLB career, he has spent time at second base, left field, center field, right field, first base, and third base.  This would allow Bruce Bochy to be able to put Merrifield all over the field to either give players rest or fill in for injuries without losing any offensive production.

As the San Francisco Giants are known to be looking for outfield help, Merrifield could also be their answer in left field or center field long-term if they do not want to use him strictly as a utility player.

What makes Merrifield an even better option?  His salary.  He would only be owed the prorated amount of his $569,500 salary following a trade.

Merrifield would give the Giants flexibility on the field and flexibility on the payroll side.  Therefore, he would be a perfect fit on this Giants team.