Buster Olney's proposed Giants-Mets trade doesn't solve any problems for SF

With the SF Giants 15 games under .500 with less than six weeks until the August 3 trade deadline, it seems like San Francisco is open to trading just about everyone on the roster except for Logan Webb and, probably, Bryce Eldridge. ESPN's Buster Olney just floated a trade idea on social media that wouldn't solve any problems for the Giants.

Olney proposed a trade between the Giants and New York Mets that would send shortstop Willy Adames to New York in exchange for second baseman Marcus Semien. Olney writes:

"Pure speculation, but worth exploring for the Mets and Giants: A deal involving Willy Adames and Marcus Semien. The Giants would have to eat a good chunk of money in Adames's deal to make it happen, but Adames could play third, Bichette could move to second, and Semien would return to the Bay Area. SF has signaled a willingness to listen to offers for Adames, Chapman, Devers."

The deal would make sense from the standpoint that both Adames and Semien have bloated contracts which means the Giants might not have to eat as much money as they would if they traded Adames for prospects, but the Giants would just be shipping out one overpaid, underperforming veteran in exchange for another.

Adames is currently hitting .233/.266/.420 with 13 home runs and 31 runs batted in. Not only has he struggled at the plate, but his defense has left plenty to be desired as well. While he struggled in the first half last year before turning it around both offensively and defensively in the second half, the Giants can't afford to give a guy a seven-year $182 million deal only for him to play up to expectations for half the year.

As for Semien, he's struggling as well hitting .219/.275/.351 with nine home runs and 29 runs batted in. That's basically just as bad as, if not worse than, Adames.

Adames-Semien trade would leave Giants with another overpriced veteran

The one way the deal would sort of make sense from San Francisco's perspective is because Semien is only under contract through the 2028 season while Adames contract runs through 2031. The Semien contract would be easier to stomach simply because it ends sooner.

Maybe if the Giants traded Luis Arraez then Semien could be plugged in at second base but a lot of fans would be understandably be ticked if the Giants replaced Arraez, who has been outstanding this season, with Semien who is clearly past his prime.

There was a time when the 35-year-old Semien, a Bay Area native, would have made a ton of sense on the Giants. They probably should have signed him after the 2021 season when he was a free agent but the front office thought it could just keep finding cheap diamonds in the rough forever.

Olney's idea makes a little bit of sense from a money standpoint, but a trade like that would essentially amount to shipping one very expensive deck chair from a Titanic sinking in the Pacific Ocean in exchange for another expensive deck chair on a Titanic sinking in the Atlantic Ocean.

The Giants are in a pickle with the Adames contract and he will not be easy to move but taking on another overpriced veteran is probably not the best move if it can be avoided.

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