The San Francisco Giants have struggled this season, falling back in the race for the postseason as they currently sit in fourth place in the NL West with a 29-43 record.
Amid the team’s poor record, MLB insider Buster Olney reported that the Giants are “open” to trading some of their highest-paid position players, including Rafael Devers.
“The Giants are open to offers for their three highest-paid position players — Rafael Devers, Willy Adames, Matt Chapman — among other obvious trade candidates, like Luis Arraez and Robbie Ray,” Olney reported.
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The report comes almost a year after the Boston Red Sox moved Devers to San Francisco in one of the most shocking trades last season. The Giants took on the $255 million remaining on Devers’ contract at the time of the trade. His contract could be the biggest roadblock in a potential deal at the trade deadline.
While Devers has a .762 OPS with 29 homers in 162 games for the Giants, he also has struck out 209 times. Apart from Devers, Matt Chapman and Willy Adames have disappointed at the plate and the trio is reportedly owed $451 million after this season.
Giants unlikely to make playoffs after sluggish first half of the season
The Giants moved on from Bob Melvin after they missed the playoffs last season. San Francisco president of baseball operations Buster Posey hoped for a better season this year, but it hasn’t panned out that way.
The Giants are 15 games behind the .500 mark and have a 2.6% chance of playing October baseball, according to Fangraphs. With the team unlikely to make the postseason, the Giants could turn their attention to next season by offloading players like Rafael Devers, Matt Chapman and Willy Adames, who collectively account for $646 million in contracts.
The trade deadline is still a few weeks away and it’d be interesting to see which team is willing to take on the hefty contracts of the Giants stars.
Edited by Chaitanya Prakash