San Francisco Giants: Building a trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers

With a sell-off coming for the San Francisco Giants this summer, Marc Delucchi will go team-by-team for a look at how each contender fits as a potential trade partner. Next up, the rival Los Angeles Dodgers.

The San Francisco Giants continue to find new lows. Just 54 games into the 2019 season, they are already stranded in the NL West cellar at 12 games under .500 with a minus-88 run differential.

That shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone after back-to-back losing seasons and with the team clearly in the early stages of a rebuild.

The July 31st trade deadline may still seem like it’s a long ways off, but with new rules in place that have eliminated August waiver trades, teams like the Giants may be worried about waiting too long and missing their chance to sell.

Meanwhile, the rival Los Angeles Dodgers continue to dominate the NL West. While they are still searching for that elusive World Series title, they are well on their way to a seventh consecutive division crown.

Much like the New York Yankees—discussed in the last sell-off series piece—the Dodgers have built incredible organizational depth. The Giants poached their general manager this past offseason and made Farhan Zaidi their team president to try to bring those same techniques to the bay.

Given how competitive the Dodgers have been and how often they are buyers at the trade deadline, it’s a testament to their scouting and development teams that they still rank among the 10 best farm systems in baseball.

No one needs to be reminded that the Dodgers and Giants are not friends. The longtime rivals have only completed three trades since 1958, with the most recent coming on Aug. 9, 2007, when Mark Sweeney was swapped for Travis Denker.

However, Zaidi’s familiarity with the Dodgers may give the Giants an insight others lack.

So let’s try to find a deal that both teams can get behind.