1 quality that will make it difficult for the SF Giants to trade some of their veterans

The rumor mill is beginning to produce some unlikely trade scenarios involving some of the SF Giants veteran players. In many instances, those trade proposals are more ideas than anything based in substance due in large part to the optionality that comes with some of their players.

1 quality that will make it difficult for the SF Giants to trade some of their veterans

Some recent proposals have Blake Snell going to the Los Angeles Dodgers or Matt Chapman going to the New York Yankees. You never want to talk in absolutes in baseball because anything is possible. Even if something is unlikely, there is still a chance that it could happen.

That said, both Snell and Chapman hold player options for 2025. On top of that, Ray has an opt-out clause, Wilmer Flores has a mutual option, and Luke Jackson has a team option. I only include Jackson because he is among the players with some type of optionality for 2025 even if he has no trade value and the team will likely decline his $7 million team option.

Of course, Ray is coming off of major elbow surgery, so he would need to perform well in the final 10 weeks of the year to walk away from the two years and $50 million remaining on his deal. Flores is in the midst of a brutal season and the Giants could decline their half of the mutual option. Neither Ray nor Flores are trade candidates at this point.

This comes back to Chapman and Snell. In a vacuum, both of them would appeal to other teams if available. However, the fact that they have player options to consider in the offseason makes any type of trade difficult. Not impossible, but you rarely see players with options traded. Of course, Ray was one of the few exceptions, but that was a salary-dump move in some sense on both sides.

In 2022, Carlos Rodón had an opt-out clause after his first season with San Francisco. He was in the midst of a stellar campaign and was considered a potential trade candidate if the Giants sold. Overall, he pitched to a 2.88 ERA in 31 starts and it was highly likely that he was going to opt out of his deal after the season.

Despite the solid numbers, Rodón remained with the Giants for the remainder of the year. The option was an obvious roadblock for making any type of move. If the left-handed pitcher was traded and sustained a major injury down the stretch, then he likely would not have opted out and remained with his new team while he recovered. That new team would be on the hook for the money owed. This is a factor that teams have to consider.

On the other hand, it is tough for the team trading the player to know how to assign a value to the deal. Are they trading a rental? Are they trading someone who has more than one year of control? That is a difficult question to answer on either side of the deal.

So, while rumors might run rampant that the Giants could move either Snell or Chapman, that is very unlikely due to the optionality that they hold. It could happen, but these ideas are based more in fiction rather than anything of substance.