The San Francisco Giants are holding tight to their core players despite a rough start to the season, but that stance could shift if their playoff hopes continue fading.
Rafael Devers, who came over from Boston in what many still consider a head-scratching trade by the Red Sox, finds himself at the center of trade speculation. The third baseman has struggled since joining San Francisco, hitting .236 last year with 116 strikeouts, and he’s batting .240 this season with 49 strikeouts already.
But the Giants aren’t ready to give up on him yet.
“At this point, I consider it likely that Ray is traded. But the Giants do not want to move Ray or any other player at this point; they want to fight to get back into the postseason conversation, and that means holding onto Ray, Rafael Devers, Matt Chapman and Willy Adames. Trading any of those players is off limits at the moment,” Robert Murray of FanSided reported.
The Red Sox decision to move Devers still doesn’t make much sense looking back. Sure, there was the Alex Bregman situation that seemed like a long-term roster issue, but Boston ended up letting Bregman walk in free agency anyway.
Having two of the game’s best players on the same roster should’ve been a luxury, not a problem. Both guys could’ve helped the Red Sox win plenty of games down the line.
Instead, here we are.
The Giants’ reluctance to move their key pieces makes sense if they think they can turn things around. But as Murray noted, being “off limits” now doesn’t mean that status can’t change come trade deadline time.
San Francisco has been among baseball’s worst teams early on and could find themselves well out of postseason contention by July. That’s when teams typically shift from buying to selling, and Devers’ name would certainly generate interest despite his recent struggles.
The big left-handed slugger still has the talent that made him a cornerstone in Boston. Sometimes a change of scenery takes time to work, but if the Giants continue struggling, they might not have the luxury of patience.
