Breaking down SF Giants' complete fleecing of Yankees in Camilo Doval trade (and it's not over yet)

In some ways, Camilo Doval returning to the SF Giants feels like the most natural thing that could’ve happened in this 2026 season. In 2017, the worst Giants season in recent memory prior to this one, San Francisco brought back Michael Morse and Pablo Sandoval, two players obviously much more beloved than Doval but nostalgia is always a constant for the Giants.

Doval provided some good nostalgia on Saturday against the Los Angeles Dodgers as he struck out the side and looked like the dominant version of himself from 2022 and 2023. If he could return to that form in his second stint with San Francisco, the trade that sent him to the New York Yankees will look like the fleecing of the decade. Even if he is dreadful for the Giants next year or they decide to non-tender him it’s still a major fleecing, and the nice thing for the Giants is it’s only going to get better.

We’ve already seen one of the prospects the Giants acquired in the Doval trade debut. Jesus Rodriguez did positive things in 2026, hitting .235/.316/.412 with two home runs and eight runs batted in on the season before going down with an injury just like pretty much everyone else on the team.

It’s not perfectly clear how Rodriguez fits into the picture going forward as he doesn’t really have a set position, but he could be a sort of quasi-third catcher/fifth outfielder/sixth infielder or something like that.

Giants won the Camilo Doval trade, now it's just a matter of how lopsided the victory is

Then there’s Parks Harber. He’s pretty much done nothing but hit in the minor leagues. In 2026 he hit .271/.359/.456 with 18 home runs and 81 runs batted in. He likely would’ve been called up if he was eligible for the Rule 5 Draft, but at least he will get to continue to progress in the minors next season especially if there’s a lockout and could potentially get called up at some point.

Trystan Vrieling was also acquired in the deal and with how San Francisco’s young starting pitching depth has been somewhat decimated by injuries, he definitely seems like a guy who could be called up in 2027 after posting a decent but not great 5.01 ERA on the year in the minors.

There's also Carlos De La Rosa. He’s just a teenager with a 6.55 ERA in the ACL this season so he was the lottery ticket thrown in as part of the deal. Maybe he turns into something down the road but if not it isn’t the end of the world.

Really, if any of those four players turns into a solid big league player or does anything beneficial for the Giants then that only makes the Doval trade even sweeter. Buster Posey has certainly made mistakes as an executive, but the Doval trade is an absolute masterclass on how to fleece a team on par with the Darin Ruf trade from several years ago which New York Mets fans are probably still stewing over.

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