San Francisco Giants Do Nothing at Trade Deadline

The San Francisco Giants did absolutely nothing at the trade deadline, despite their intentions to compete. With all their direct competition getting better, time will tell if it was the right move.

The San Francisco Giants watched the trade deadline come and pass without pulling the trigger on any moves to potentially improve the ball-club for the present, and even the future. They watched four of their NL Rivals add some major pieces this deadline, and instead are intent on competing with the current roster they have. Personally, I have a problem with this.

The San Francisco Giants said yesterday they weren’t in “seller” mode. By the San Francisco Giants, I mean Larry freakin Baer told KNBR yesterday.

The only reason the Giants feel like they aren’t a seller is because they feel like they can compete. They can. They’re only 6 games out. But the problem is that almost nobody ahead of them stood pat. Everyone else got better, and widened the gap between them and the Giants. This Giants team is a bat and another starter away from being a legitimate contender.

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Standing pat is the message that a team who has solid contender status sends when they feel like they have no “chinks in the armor”. The Giants have neither of those. So why stand pat? Only Bobby Evans knows.

I understand not wanting to give up a ton of prospects for guys who will walk next year. But giving up prospects for guys who are proven big leaguers, that will be on your team for multiple years beyond this one, is a fair trade. If you want that starting pitcher now, you better be prepared to give up a guy who could be a starter in three years.

There are a few examples of controllable starters that were available: Kyle Gibson, Kevin Gausman are just two solid examples.

Both have multiple years of control at low salaries left. Both could’ve been had while giving up a relatively high rated prospect that is years away from the big leagues. Both are an improvement to that Giants staff. Yet, no dice? What gives?

All I know, is that if the Giants fall farther back this year and end up nowhere near the wild card Bobby Evans is going to start coming under pressure, as is the entire front office. That front office has now overseen the second worst season on record in Giants history, and a collapse from a 62 win team at the all-star break because Bobby Evans failed to pull the trigger on a deal for Melancon in the 2015 deadline. Throw in the albatross contracts that are sitting on the Giants payroll at the moment, spread over three guys over thirty, with two on the DL and one being the least trusted reliever at the moment, it looks bad.

Evans placed his bet by being passive at the deadline. He feels this team is going to do the job. If they don’t, he should be held accountable as well. Evans went all-in on this team knowing “the flop” and “turn.” The “River” is coming here in a few weeks. Will Bobby have made the right gamble?