3 moves the SF Giants should have made at the deadline instead of doing nothing

The Giants should have been all over the Jordan Montgomery/Chris Stratton trade

It was widely known that the Giants were looking at starting pitching at the trade deadline. Kyle Harrison got hurt down in the minors right before the All-Star break and Anthony DeSclafani is on the injured list with a balky elbow. This was a team that already had some places they could upgrade their rotation and then right before the deadline, it was at the point where they NEEDED to make a move for an arm.

Conversely, the St. Louis Cardinals had a horror show of a first half that forced them into the unfamiliar territory of being sellers. While their starting pitching staff has largely been to blame, they still had a number of rental starters and relievers that were in high demand at the trade deadline including Jordan Montgomery and Chris Stratton.

Montgomery had far and away been the Cardinals' best starter in 2023 and was among the better starters in the National League period with a 3.42 ERA in 21 starts this season. Stratton hadn't been inhabiting the highest leverage situations for St. Louis, but he at least has some very nice spin rates along with a few other encouraging peripherals and he has pitched pretty well overall. Both players will hit free agency at the end of the 2023 season.

Montgomery may end up being the most valuable pitcher dealt at the trade deadline for the rest of the season unless Scherzer and/or Verlander turn back the clock a bit. Stratton probably isn't an elite bullpen option, but he would have deepened an already strong Giants' bullpen. Instead, the Rangers were aggressive in courting St. Louis and both players ended up in Texas in a deal that the Giants could have probably easily matched or exceeded without mortgaging their future.

Jeimer Candelario would have been a nice fit for the SF Giants

In fairness to the Giants, the position player crop available at the trade deadline was pretty awful. Most of the teams in a strong position to sell at the deadline didn't have much to offer when it came to offensive players and there weren't a lot of rental guys available period.

Of the options available, Tommy Pham made sense on paper but Pham slapping Joc Pederson over fantasy football made that a non-starter. Nationals outfielder Lane Thomas was technically available, but he has multiple years of team control and Washington was asking the moon for him. However, one option that could have worked was another National in Jeimer Candelario.

In addition to being a strong corner defender, Candelario is having one of his best seasons of his career at the plate with an .854 OPS in 2023. The fit in the Giants' lineup wouldn't have been trivial, but the Giants could have found a way to find playing time for a guy that can play 1B, 3B, or DH especially with Mike Yastrzemski on the shelf. It didn't hurt whatsoever that Candelario would have been cheap financially as he is only making $5 million this season and will become a free agent at the end of 2023.

It never got to that point, though, as Candelario was ultimately went to the Cubs at the deadline. The Giants let one of the top pending free agent bats go elsewhere and decided instead that the ghost of AJ Pollock was a better option (in the case of a reverse jinx here, you are welcome).

San Francisco should have made a harder push for Mark Canha

The team that became the focus of the trade deadline pretty quickly was the New York Mets. Despite spending enough money to purchase a small country the last couple of offseason, the Mets find themselves eight games below .500 and without much of a prayer of making the playoffs. To their credit, they did read the writing on the wall and got a haul of prospects for all of the guys they traded away including outfielder Mark Canha.

Canha honestly seems like a quintessential Giants player. Nothing about his game sticks out as uniquely awesome. He just does a lot of things well. From 2018 through 2022, the lowest wRC+ he has posted is 115. Canha draws walks, hits for a bit of power, strikes out at a reasonable rate, and is a passable (if unexciting) defender at all three outfield positions who also has experience playing first and third base.

Would Canha have moved the needle for the Giants a ton? Probably not, but the guy can hit and his versatility would have given San Francisco a ton of options with playing matchups and given them insurance in case any more injuries befell them the rest of the season which is a big deal. Again, there are no more August waiver wire trades. The roster is what it is regardless of injuries unless the Giants promote someone.

San Francisco did not go in that direction and Canha ended up getting moved to the Brewers. Instead of the deadline giving the Giants an exciting opportunity to improve the roster, fans have to wonder what might have been and hope that what the Giants have will be enough.

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