The San Francisco Giants Should Not Trade Closer Will Smith

It appears that many teams are interested in San Francisco Giants left handed reliever Will Smith. Should the Giants deal their closer, or do they need to hang on to him?

In my mind, it would be wise for the San Francisco Giants to keep Smith. He proved himself to be a capable closer last year which is important due to the failure that Mark Melancon has been, especially considering the fact that he was given a boatload of money to be the team’s closer.

Since the days of Santiago Casilla, the Giants have not really had a sure-fire guy that you just know can get you those last three outs. Before Casilla they had Sergio Romo and before him Brian Wilson.

With news of Hunter Strickland becoming a free agent, besides Smith, the Giants’ bullpen gets very iffy when it comes to their capability to close out games.

More from Around the Foghorn

• SF Giants: Checking in on the Tony Watson trade
• San Francisco Giants fans need this Captain Brandon Belt shirt
• SF Giants: Brandon Belt’s surge has powered winning streak
• SF Giants hitting prospects week in review (8/28-9/10)
• SF Giants: Pitching depth bolstered with waiver claim

Sam Dyson had plenty of experience with the Texas Rangers as a closer but after doing so bad that they released him, he’s been able to rebuild his career as a set-up man with the Giants.

Could he be a serviceable closer in 2019? Probably. Would I trust him more than Will Smith as closer? Personally, no.

Perhaps the Giants feel that a young arm like Reyes Moronta or Ray Black could be a closer in the future and they want to baptize them by fire by thrusting them into the role in 2019 while dealing Smith for a decent prospect or two.

That seems unlikely though. Moronta and Black both had their moments last year, Moronta more so than Black, but they’re still learning and would be better used as middle relievers or set-up men for the time being.

Those are the only names I can think of currently on the roster that would be considered to regularly close out games. Perhaps Farhan Zaidi has a trick up his sleeve and is planning on bringing back our old friend Sergio Romo to close out games.

This is an idea that I posed in a different article which a brief scroll through the comments will show you is a very popular idea amongst the Around the Foghorn community.

Will Smith should not be traded and I don’t believe he will be. Unless the Giants are blown away by an offer, they know they’ll need someone to close out games in 2019, and as of right now Will Smith is their best bet.