Injuries can give SF Giants a chance to imagine life without their veterans

The SF Giants are dealing with some injury issues in the infield as third baseman Matt Chapman has an abdominal injury and shortstop Willy Adames is dealing with a back issue. The Giants might be wise to put them both on the IL just to get a taste of what life might be like without them.

It’s no secret that the Giants are open to hearing trade offers for both players ahead of the August 3 trade deadline. While the Giants invested a lot of money in them hoping they could be a rock-solid foundation on the left side of the infield while also being veteran leaders in the clubhouse, the results on the field speak for themselves.

Chapman is hitting .235/.324/.368 with seven home runs and 42 runs batted in. He’s at least still providing value with his defense but the Giants were clearly hoping for more and seem to have a ready replacement in Casey Schmitt if Chapman is traded away.

Adames is hitting .231/.275/.430 with 14 homers and 32 runs batted in. His defense has been subpar and the Giants probably audibly gulp every time they remember they are on the hook to pay him until 2031.

Giants should put Chapman and Adames on IL to see what life is like without them

So why not put them both on the IL as a precautionary measure and also to give everyone a bit of a preview of what life might look like without them? Schmitt could be the starting third baseman and Christian Koss could play shortstop and the Giants could see how much worse or better things look with those guys out there rather than their overpaid veterans.

Of course, trading either player will not be easy. They both have no-trade clauses in their contracts and are owed a ton of money so the Giants would have to agree to pay off some of their contracts as part of any deal or possibly take on a bad contract from whatever team they trade them to.

In reality, it wouldn’t be a shock if they both remain with San Francisco after the trade deadline since it may be too difficult to overcome those hurdles and find the perfect trade partner.

No matter what though, it would still be interesting to get a glimpse of what the team would look like without them. What if the team is better or goes on a hot streak? That could be all the reason the front office needs to move on from them.

If they can’t trade them in the next month then maybe they can do it in the offseason but these injuries at least provide an opportunity to get some important information ahead of a crucial trade deadline.

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