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The Giants don’t have much of a history of selling at the trade deadline, but Buster Posey made some significant moves this year.
Thursday was deadline day, and the Giants sent another relief pitcher to New York: Camilo Doval to the Yankees. They also moved outfielder Mike Yastrzemski to the Royals.
The deals came one day after the Giants traded Tyler Rogers to the Mets.
“We wanted to be in a different position to add,” said Posey, the president of baseball operations. “Unfortunately, the way we played, we had to make a decision here to try to add some talent that we felt could help us going forward.”
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All three of the players Posey traded were former teammates. Posey, who retired after the 2021 season, spoke with all three and thanked them for their time with the Giants.
“Look, I knew when I took this job that one of the harder parts was going to be, at some point, moving on from guys that I had a personal relationship with and I played with,” Posey said. “That's not an easy phone call or conversation to have in person. But overall, I think Zack (Minasian) and myself and the rest of the group are happy with the players that we have coming to put on a Giants uniform.”
The Royals sent 21-year-old pitcher Yunior Marte to San Francisco to acquire Yastrzemski, the longest-tenured player on the Giants’ roster. The Giants received four prospects in exchange for Doval: catcher Jesús Rodríguez, infielder Parks Harber, right-handed pitcher Trystan Vrieling, and left-handed pitcher Carlos De La Rosa.
One of the more intriguing acquisitions is Rodríguez, 23, especially because the Giants lack a good-hitting catcher. He was hitting .317 with an .830 OPS at Triple-A, and he’s a .308 career hitter in pro ball.
Posey, the star-studded former catcher, said, “All he’s done is hit. … You watch his swing, he sprays the ball all over the field. We're happy, excited about him.” GM Zack Minasian added that Rodríguez could have value at multiple positions – he has ample time as a corner infielder and corner outfielder – and “can be a quality defensive catcher.”
The 6-foot-5 Marte, 21, not to be confused by the former Giant of the same name, posted a 2.74 ERA in A-ball white striking out 79 and walking 20 in 82 innings.
Doval, an All-Star in 2023, posted a 3.09 ERA in 47 appearances this season. He won’t be a free agent until 2028, and was the third reliever the Yankees acquired on deadline day following Pittsburgh’s David Bednar and Colorado’s Jake Bird. Randy Rodríguez or Ryan Walker could assume Doval’s closing duties.
Yastrzemski spent seven seasons as a Giant and is a career .238 hitter. His departure could create more playing time for Luis Matos. Other options are Grant McCray, now in Triple-A, and Drew Gilbert, who was acquired in the Rogers trade along with reliever José Buttó, who’ll join the Giants in New York on Friday, and pitcher Blade Tidwell.
Yastrzemski and Rogers will be free agents after the season, and plenty other Giants with expiring contracts could have been traded including Justin Verlander, Wilmer Flores, and Dom Smith.
On Verlander, Posey said, “Nothing came to fruition where it made sense for us to explore that move,” Also, there were conversations about All-Star starter Robbie Ray, who has one more year on his contract, being moved.
“Robbie's been great this year,” Posey said. “Pitching and defense wins. We feel good about him going into the season next year. Yeah, there were some calls, but we would have had to have been blown out of water. We obviously didn't get there.”
Posey turned from a likely buyer to a hard-core seller as the Giants quickly plummeted from co-leading the division to firmly holding a wild-card spot to looking up at the pack.
The Giants, with Wednesday’s 2-1 loss to Pittsburgh, fell below .500 for the first time this season. They dropped 12 of 14, went 9-15 in July, and were swept in their six-game homestand, the first time since 1896 – 1896 – they were winless on a homestand of at least six games.
Posey made the first big strike of the deadline season by snagging Rafael Devers from Boston on June 15. Stunningly, the Giants own the majors’ worst record since Devers’ arrival, 13-24, and scored the fewest runs, 134.
“I can't explain it,” Posey said. “I think we all wish we had something that we could concretely point to, but it's just a really rough stretch. We wish we weren't in this spot that we were trading away and (wish) we were adding at this point.”
It wasn’t long ago that the Giants seemed all in on upgrading the roster for a playoff run. Posey made it clear he wanted another starter, and the anemic offense called for a hitter or two. Plus, the bullpen could have used another arm to remain effective. However, all the losing made Posey do a 180 and focus on selling.
“We'll probably get some different looks at some different players over the next couple of months,” Posey said.
Asked about calling up Marco Luciano and Bryce Eldrdge from Triple-A, Posey said “it’s on the table” but preferred to “downplay” an Eldridge promotion anytime soon because the 20-year-old missed time with an injury and needs more reps at first base and at the plate.
Posey was a more aggressive seller than predecessor Farhan Zaidi. The only time Zaidi made a big move was acquiring Kris Bryant from the Cubs in 2021. He held onto Madison Bumgarner and closer Will Smith at the 2019 deadline and Carlos Rodón in 2022, then lost them all to free agency.
As the deadline came and went, it became clear which teams were going for it and which are giving up. What once was the deepest division in the majors, the National League West now is a two-team race between the Dodgers and Padres, with the Diamondbacks joining the Giants in raising the white flag.
The Diamondbacks shipped third baseman Eugenio Suárez to Seattle just days after sending another corner infielder, first baseman Josh Naylor, to the Mariners. Shortly before the deadline, the D’backs traded Merrill Kelly, one of the premier starters on the market, to the Rangers, strengthening Bruce Bochy’s pursuit of more October theatrics.
Meanwhile, Padres GM A.J. Preller was typically active and acquired a laundry list of players, starting with A’s closer Mason Miller and starter JP Sears for a package that included a highly touted 18-year-old prospect, shortstop Leo De Vries. Preller also snagged first baseman/DH Ryan O’Hearn and outfielder Ramón Laureano from the Orioles, pitcher Nestor Cortes from the Brewers, catcher Freddy Fermín from the Royals, and infielder Will Wagner from the Blue Jays.
Andrew Friedman wasn’t nearly as busy in L.A. The first-place Dodgers, besieged by injuries to their pitching staff, sought bullpen depth and acquired reliever Brock Stewart from Minnesota, parting with outfielder James Outman. The Dodgers then brought in another outfielder, Alex Call, in a deal with the Nationals.
Furthermore, the Dodgers dealt pitcher Dustin May to Boston in exchange for two prospects including James Tibbs III, the Giants’ first-round draft choice in 2024, who was initially traded to the Red Sox in June in the Devers deal.
In recent days, the Giants fell behind the Reds and Cardinals in the wild-card race, and those two teams took different paths at the deadline. The Reds (three games from the final playoff spot) acquired Pirates third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes, Rays starter Zack Littell, and A’s utilityman Miguel Andujar. The Cardinals (5½ games back) sent reliever Ryan Helsley to the Mets and reliever Steven Matz to the Red Sox.