You can sell hope or wins to your fans in this professional sporting world.
Heaven knows the San Francisco Giants cannot do the latter right now.
So hope it is.
And in baseball, hope is best served farm-to-table.
That’s why the Giants must strip down this roster and trade anyone they can who is not in their pre-arbitration stage before the Aug. 3 MLB trade deadline. Build this thing back up from the bottom.
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The earlier this business gets done, the better, lest someone remove themselves from the trading block via a sudden injury.
To the rest of Major League Baseball, consider 24 Willie Mays Plaza an all-you-can-eat smorgasbord.
But what do those trades look like? What could the Giants possibly get in return for players on this team?
Let’s sell a little hope here:
The Top-Tier Targets
Jung Hoo Lee
Why: The marketing team would never allow this, but last time I checked, the baseball operations department doesn’t answer to the marketing team. (At least not formally.) Lee has a contract opt-out after 2027, but to a new team, he provides at least a year-and-a-half of reasonably priced, bat-to-ball plate appearances and a nice outfield glove.
Expected Return: A top-50 prospect and a secondary organizational top-20 prospect.
The Trade: Lee to Philadelphia for OF Justin Crawford and Phillies No. 10 prospect Matthew Fisher. Look at how straightforward that was. Surely all of this will be as easy, right?
Luis Arraez
Why: Even as a pure rental — he’s a free agent at the end of this season — Arraez’s elite bat-to-ball skills and surprisingly strong defense this season spike his market value. Contenders looking for a high-floor spark at the top of the lineup — a duck on the pond for their power hitters — will willingly fork over a bit of genuine system depth.
Expected Return: A high-upside, fringe top-100 prospect or a package of two top-15 system prospects.
The Trade: The New York Yankees are hunting for infield contact and a spark plug to bat ahead of the heavy hitters. Arraez to the Yankees for RHP Chase Hampton (former top-100 prospect, now No. 8 in Yankees system) and, perhaps, SS Kaeden Kent (NYY’s No. 13 prospect, son of Hall of Famer, former Giant Jeff Kent). This might seem too rich, but I sense there is a decent enough market for Arraez to squeeze out that second prospect.
Matt Chapman
Why: We’re dumping payroll, baby! Because Chapman is owed $25 million per year through 2030 and holds a full no-trade clause (who negotiated that?), the return isn’t the players coming back — it’s the fiscal escape. Also, I know it’s not a large sample size, but what has Chapman given the Giants this season that Casey Schmitt, while at the hot corner during Chapman’s injury absence, hasn’t? (That injury could really be a problem for the Giants here.)
Expected Return: Next to nada at full cost — a decent flier if the Giants hold some cash.
The Trade: This is a tough one, because all three parties — the Giants, the acquiring team, and Chapman — need to be in cahoots. That’s much, much easier projected than done. Let’s revisit the Yankees, who take 70 percent of Chapman’s remaining contract and part with Spencer Jones, whose prospect pedigree is torpedoing faster than the 2026 Giants in the standings. The Giants could also try to attach Chapman to the aforementioned Arraez deal, dropping down the return to a flier prospect or two (so just Hampton or Kent).
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Robbie Ray
Why: Starting pitching is the ultimate deadline currency. Desperate contenders looking to shore up a postseason rotation will see Ray’s price rise and rise and rise before Aug. 3.
Expected Return: Like Arraez, a high-upside, fringe top-100 prospect or a package of two top-15 system prospects.
Viable Trade Partners: The Atlanta Braves seem like a perfect fit, with Owen Murphy (Braves No. 6 prospect) and Ethan Bagwell (No. 22) returning. But the Cubs also seem like a perfect fit. Could triples machine Ethan Conrad (Cubs’ No. 4 prospect) and Jostin Florentino (No. 15) put them over? (Because there’s no way the Cubs part with catcher Moisés Ballesteros, right?)
We’ll Take Anything You’ll Give Us Options
Caleb Kilian / JT Brubaker / Sam Hentges
Expected Return: A bag of balls, a player to be named later that’s never named, and maybe a crab sandwich.
Viable Trade Partners: The depths of depravity are always well occupied in Major League Baseball. I refuse to explore them any further.
Harrison Bader
Why: Someone, somewhere, might see Bader as a defensive replacement and platoon bat.
Expected Return: A generic, forgettable, soon-to-be DFA’d MLB-depth bullpen arm or a single top-40 system prospect.
Viable Trade Partner: Bader is owed $10 million next season, so he’s not moving unless another bad contract is coming back or the Giants send cash alongside him. Maybe a smarter team than the Giants — the Rays, perhaps — see something. I’m grasping at straws here, folks.
Rafael Devers and Willy Adames
Why: You know why.
Expected Return: Zilch
Viable Trade Partner: And here I thought we were being serious. This column might make me out as daft, but even I’m not thick enough to think either of these guys have any market whatsoever.
Oh, By The Way
Logan Webb could land you two top-100 prospects (one for each year of remaining team control) on top of another system Top 10/15 prospect (or two) for the remainder of this year.
But the Giants aren’t even listening to offers because of… reasons. Probably the marketing department.
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