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

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).