One wild trade scenario that would see SF Giants ship Rafael Devers out of town

It’s no secret that the SF Giants are exploring avenues for trading away Rafael Devers. He’s hitting a good amount of home runs as advertised, but even though he’s been heating up of late, including a two-homer game in the past week, he has not been the franchise cornerstone they were hoping for when they acquired him on Father’s Day in 2025. He has swung through fastballs at an alarming rate, his walk percentage has fallen off a cliff, and his batting average would be his lowest since 2018, among other factors that indicate there’s some cause for long-term concern.

The stigma of being a clubhouse cancer that clouded his tenure with the Red Sox has finally followed him to the west coast, too. The recent waving-off pinch-runner Jonah Cox was a bad look that undermined Tony Vitello’s decision-making in the dugout, and Devers’ strained relationship with the media certainly hasn’t won him any fans either.

Even aside from that, his presence has relegated Bryce Eldridge to being the DH most days, which both harms Eldridge’s development and limits the team’s use of the DH role to give players breaks from the field to keep them fresh. Lastly, but definitely not least, the Giants are a lackluster ballclub that needs to undergo a teardown. With all that in mind, it makes all the sense in the world for the Giants to move Devers.

Due to all that information I just presented, though, along with the fact he’s still owed $199.5 million in the seven seasons after this one, not many teams will want him. More accurately, probably no teams will want him, unless the Giants do something to sweeten the pot. That pot-sweetening probably would mean eating a lot of the money that’s left on his deal. The Red Sox looked like geniuses when they tricked convinced the Giants into taking on all that money, and it’s already starting to look ugly.

Could the SF Giants ship Rafael Devers to the South Beach?

If the team looking to acquire Devers only had to pay, say, $15 million a year to him while the Giants agreed to pick up the extra $13.5 million a year, though, a bargain would be a lot easier to come by before the trade deadline. To find the perfect match for him, there are a few variables that need to be considered.

For one, that team would need to be within striking distance of the playoffs this year and looking to be buyers at the deadline – that rules out teams like the Rockies and Angels. Secondly, they’d need to have a first base situation where the incumbent option wouldn’t preclude a team from acquiring Devers – we know he won’t play third, after all.

Third, they’d need to have a payroll not so high that adding Devers even at a discount price would hamstring them for seven years, and that his heftier $29.1MM AAV for luxury tax purposes wouldn’t push them over a tax threshold they weren’t comfortable with. And lastly, it would help if it was a younger team full of up-and-comers looking to garner fan interest, identify themselves as a worthwhile free agent destination, and stave off any kind of grievance from the MLBPA over the offseason concerning carrying too low of a payroll.

Which team meets all of those prerequisites, and more? Surely you’ve guessed it by now – the Miami Marlins! Never a team known for their proclivity to spend money, the Marlins are a bit of a ridiculous fit before you consider all the reasons it wouldn’t be ridiculous. They’re 50-42 and would be a Wild Card team if the season ended right now, they have the second-lowest payroll in all of MLB and as such would be leaving themselves open for the MLBPA being unhappy with them during collective bargaining, they play in a market that loves star power, and not one player in the team’s starting nine has even half as much service time as Devers.

Kyle Stowers is playing a lot of first base for them right now, but he also has experience in the corner outfield, and there’s the DH spot that’s currently occupied by one of the team’s three catchers, Liam Hicks. Probably the only ways Devers wouldn’t fit extremely well on the Marlins are that he hits left-handed – the Marlins already have a pretty lefty-heavy group – and that LoanDepot Park is another pitcher-friendly stadium, though not to quite the extreme that Oracle is.

The Giants probably shouldn’t expect any of the Marlins’ top five prospects even after eating nearly half of Devers’ money, but they could still stock a couple shiny new pieces in their farm system. Andrew Salas, the 10th-ranked prospect in the Marlins system by MLB Pipeline, could be one such piece. He’s a switch-hitting 18-year-old with good speed, strong plate discipline, and experience in the outfield and both middle infield positions. Nate Payne, a LHP with solid breaking stuff and No. 4-starter upside, could be another. When you’re talking about prospects so young, it’s often a numbers game – hoard as many as you can and see which end up as pleasant surprises.

There will be an infinite number of possibilities bandied about as sportswriters and fans brainstorm ways that the Giants’ deadline could go, and this is but one silly little idea of something that would catch a lot of people off guard. The Marlins might not be the favorites to acquire Devers – indeed, the most likely scenario is he stays in San Francisco – but never count the Dark Horse out of the race.

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