5 SF Giants who need to be dealt and 2 who shouldn't ahead of trade deadline

The SF Giants are still coming off the high of an insane comeback victory on Wednesday capped off by a walk-off grand slam from budding star Bryce Eldridge. Thursday is an off day so we can all watch that highlight over and over again.

It was the best moment of the 2026 season for San Francisco in a year that’s been short on games or moments that make you smile. But reality is going to set back in soon. I hate to be that guy but the Giants are still 28-41 on the season and while their playoff odds are not quite as bad as the almost nonexistent chance of victory they had on Wednesday when down eight runs entering the eighth inning, they’re still not very good.

The Giants are almost certainly going to trade some players away ahead of the August 3 trade deadline so let’s dive into who should be going and who they should hang onto.

5 SF Giants who need to be dealt

Luis Arraez

It hurts to think of Luis Arraez slapping the ball all over the place and being fun to watch for another team, but this is a necessary move for the Giants. The second baseman has been great this season but he’s going to be a free agent in the offseason and it seems unlikely the Giants want to extend another infielder soon to be on the wrong side of 30.

Trading him allows the team to move Casey Schmitt to second base and with Schmitt’s breakout year it’s much easier to envision him as the team’s second baseman of the future.

Robbie Ray

Another free agent to be is Robbie Ray. He looked the best he has in a while on Wednesday even though the stats don’t really reflect it. The Giants could probably get a good return on him especially from a team that misses out on the Tarik Skubal sweepstakes.

Tyler Mahle

The Giants signed Tyler Mahle to a one-year deal hoping he could be a diamond in the rough find on the cheap but he has not been that at all. Currently on the IL, he has a 6.04 ERA on the season. Trading him would be less about the return and more about clearing a spot for Trevor McDonald or Carson Whisenhunt in the rotation for the rest of the year.

Adrian Houser

The Giants signed Houser to a two-year deal that looks just as bad as the Mahle signing. Houser has a 5.54 ERA on the year and the thought of him pitching for the Giants next season is not a fun one.

Trade him and let McDonald, Whisenhunt, and Carson Seymour join the rotation with Blade Tidwell and maybe even the Tugboat as backup options.

Harrison Bader

The Giants signed Harrison Bader to improve the outfield defense and having a guy like him made sense when the team had playoff aspirations. But now that those aspirations have largely vanished and with Bader hitting .170/.198/.358 it’s time to trade him to give more runway to guys like Jonah Cox, Drew Gilbert, and Victor Bericoto in the outfield.

2 SF Giants who team should hold onto

Logan Webb

While Webb is most assuredly their best trade chip, getting rid of him would signal that the Giants probably don’t plan to be all that competitive the rest of this decade. Some fans want a rebuild but that sort of teardown seems unlikely when they have so much money tied up in Matt Chapman, Rafael Devers, and Willy Adames.

It would be waving the white flag not just for this season but the next few especially since aces don’t just grow on trees.

Jung Hoo Lee

Another player who could get the Giants a ton in a trade is Jung Hoo Lee. He’s currently got an 18-game hit streak and this is the hottest he’s ever been in his big league career.

He is under contract for next season and then has a player option. The Giants should be thinking about extending him rather than trading him because he’s such a beloved and marketable player.

Unless Wednesday’s grand slam brings about a massive winning streak that gets the team back into the playoff race, a lot of Giants will be dealt at the deadline. The team shouldn’t just trade everyone, but they clearly need to make some moves to open things up for younger players in what seems like a lost season.

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