3 of the best trades the SF Giants can make to upgrade the starting rotation

The SF Giants missed out on Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Their attention has now turned to Blake Snell. If they miss out on him it will turn to Jordan Montgomery, Shōta Imanaga, and on down the line. 

3 of the best trades the SF Giants can make to upgrade the starting rotation

Let’s imagine a world where the Giants are unable to land any of these free agents. If that is the case, then the Giants will have to make some trades if they want to have a stronger starting rotation going forward. 

The trade market at this time in the offseason remains murky. With free agency still very much ongoing, the players that teams are willing to deal can be a bit of a guessing game.

However, there have been some rumors about several starting pitchers that teams are looking to deal in a trade. 

Plus, the Giants may have an advantage in trade negotiations with other teams because they can deal from their wealth of young pitching prospects in order to make a deal for one of these starting pitchers.

The SF Giants organization and fans alike can agree that the rotation needs to improve if the Giants want any chance at the postseason in 2024. If the free agency woes continue, then the Giants could be forced to deal for one, or more, of the following three pitchers. 

3 of the best trades the SF Giants can make to upgrade the starting rotation

1. Corbin Burnes

Corbin Burnes would be an ideal trade target for the SF Giants. He has been one of the best starters in the National League league for years now as the ace of the Milwaukee Brewers pitching staff. He won a Cy Young award in 2021, and his name has been mentioned as a trade candidate this offseason.

Last year with the Brewers, Burnes had a 10-8 record with a 3.39 ERA in 32 games started. He had 200 strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.07 in just over 193 innings pitched. 

These numbers are not as good as the previous two years were for Burnes, but they are still exceptional. He has received an All-Star nod each of the last three seasons and is 29 years old. 

One catch is that Burnes will be a free agent after the 2024 season. It is possible that if the Giants traded for him they could work out a long-term deal so they don’t have to worry about him walking away and probably joining the Dodgers in 2025. 

I would say that Burnes would be just as good, if not better, of an acquisition as signing Blake Snell would be. Burnes has a much lower career walk rate and is two years younger than Snell while featuring just as nasty stuff. 

It would likely take some valuable trade pieces to land him, but there is no doubt getting Burnes would be a huge addition to the Giants' rotation. One way or the other, Burnes will be connected to the Giants over the next 12 months. He went to college at Saint Mary's College, which is just about an hour away from Oracle Park.

3 of the best trades the SF Giants can make to upgrade the starting rotation

3. Jesús Luzardo

Another pitcher the SF Giants could target via trade is left-handed Miami Marlins pitcher Jesús Luzardo . Like Burnes and Cease, there has been reporting that Luzardo’s name has come up in trade talks.

2023 was a solid season for Luzardo. He had a 10-10 record with a 3.58 ERA in 32 games started. He also had an impressive 208 strikeouts in 178 and 2/3 innings pitched.

Luzardo features impressive breaking stuff and at the age of 26, he still has a lot of upside as a guy who could evolve into a frontline starter if he is not there already. He also has 3 years of club control remaining which means he could factor into a team’s plans for years to come.

He would immediately be a great addition to the San Francisco Giants' pitching staff and would slot in nicely after Logan Webb in the number 2 slot in the rotation. 

However, like Burnes and Cease, it will not be easy to acquire him. The Marlins will want a hefty return especially since he has so many years of team control remaining. The Marlins are not necessarily in a position where they need to move the five-year veteran, but given his age and the fact that he has multiple years of team control, they could receive a massive haul.

All three of these starting pitchers would make the Giants a better team in 2024. As it seems like they may need to be a pitching and defense first team if they want to compete going forward, it would make sense for the Giants to target one or more of these pitchers to turn their pitching staff into an elite one.