Key SF Giants trade chip is already tanking his value ahead of the deadline

With the SF Giants well under .500 late in May, it’s only natural to look ahead to the trade deadline in early August and speculate on which players could be dealt. Left-handed pitcher Robbie Ray seems like an obvious trade piece, but his last few outings have tanked his trade value a little bit.

Entering Ray’s start against the Arizona Diamondbacks on May 18, Ray had a 3.04 ERA on the season. He proceeded to have arguably the worst start of his big league career, allowing nine earned runs on the night and getting pulled in the fifth inning although that may have been due to him tipping his pitches.

Then, on Sunday against the Chicago White Sox Ray only made it through four innings and was pulled in the fifth after walking the first two batters of the inning. Both of those runners went on to score and he was tagged with four earned runs on the day while striking out just three batters and walking seven which was a career high. His ERA is up to 4.60 on the season.

Ray is looking more like the second half vesion of himself from 2025

It already looks like Ray is slowing down a bit which is a troubling sign. We saw this last season as well. In the first half Ray was dominant and earned himself an All-Star nod. The second half was a different story as he had a 5.54 ERA in his last 12 starts.

In 2026 it looks like that second half swoon may be starting a third of the way through the season which is troubling to say the least. Our own Jeff Young notes on social media that Ray is getting fewer whiffs on his fastball which is troubling because when Ray is right he misses a lot of bats with his stuff.

Will Giants still get a decent deal if they trade Robbie Ray?

Ray is set to be a free agent after this season and the Giants seem unlikely to re-sign him since they’ve shown their unwillingness to commit big money to starting pitching.

That means a trade feels somewhat inevitable especially if the Giants still find themselves underwater when the trade deadline comes around. At this rate though, teams may not be willing to give up very much for a Robbie Ray rental.

Maybe a team will be desperate though. If there aren’t too many pitchers being dangled in trade talks, Ray could be one of the betters options for teams looking to add.  That could still put San Francisco in a position to add a decent prospect or two.

Obviously the Giants are hoping Ray can turn things around so the team can be more competitive, but they’re also hoping he can raise that trade value a bit to put them in the best spot to improve the team ahead of the trade deadline.

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