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3 players the SF Giants can trade and still remain competitive

By Eric Treuden |
Washington Nationals v San Francisco Giants
Washington Nationals v San Francisco Giants / Thearon W. Henderson/GettyImages
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The 2023 SF Giants are right on the cusp of contention, but chasing down the Arizona Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Dodgers remains a tall task.

If leapfrogging one or both of these teams in the standings proves to be too much, the Giants could instead pivot their attention to one of the NL Wild Card spots, which seems like the likeliest outcome. There's nothing wrong with that, either, it's just a matter of playing in an extremely tough division.

When looking at the roster, there seem to be a few players that could be traded away at this year's deadline that wouldn't necessarily sink the Giants. Could some of these trade chips be used to address other parts of the roster while being adequately replaced internally? Heck yes, they could.

Let's take a look at 3 players the SF Giants can trade and still remain competitive.

1. Infielder Wilmer Flores

After four years together, the Wilmer Flores-Giants relationship could very well be coming to an end. The 31-year-old remains a lefty-masher (four home runs and a 102 OPS+ in 66 at-bats) but still can't hit righties all that well and is a bit of a liability on defense.

This is not to say that there won't be any interest in him at the deadline, though. For some fairly obvious reasons, teams are always in search of another utilityman to round out their bench and for the most part, he is a solid option.

Capable of playing decent-but-not-great defense at first, second and third base, Flores and his two years of additional team control could line up nicely on a club looking to acquire a power hitter who lights up left-handed pitchers.

What makes moving him even more attractive for the Giants is the fact that there are multiple internal options who could replace him if he's moved, including Brett Wisely, Isan Díaz, David Villar or even Casey Schmitt, who may be without a spot once Thairo Estrada returns from the injured list.

With the presence of Schmitt, who is establishing himself as an everyday big leaguer, the Giants should be perfectly content with shipping Flores off in favor of the exciting young blood.

Let's take a look at 3 players the SF Giants can trade and still remain competitive.

2. Catcher Joey Bart

As difficult as it is to admit, it's just hard to get excited about Joey Bart anymore. The 26-year-old had been the supposed replacement for Buster Posey, whether unfairly or not, for years but has yet to truly capitalize on any sort of shot at consistent at-bats.

After three straight years of below-average offensive output, the Giants made the decision to once again hand him the starting catcher role to kick off the 2023 season. He has yet to make good on that and has actually been one of the worst-hitting catchers in the league.

In 26 games so far, Bart has no home runs with four runs driven in, a .231 batting average, .581 OPS and 61 OPS+. Even his usually strong defense has been nowhere to be found and it's starting to feel like he's more of a change-of-scenery candidate than a future building block, which is such a shame because he was meant to do great things for these Giants.

The club may not necessarily be desperate to move him, but there's some value in a decent defensive catcher who is still young and has a ton of team control left. He could conceivably bring back a decent prospect or big league-ready reliever which wouldn't be a complete loss in a trade.

Around the organization, the Giants have a ton of catcher-capable players that could potentially move up and replace Bart. Rule 5 pick Blake Sabol and switch-hitting phenom Patrick Bailey are both already on the active roster (since Bart is making his way back from injury) and could easily be the club's catching duo moving forward.

In the high minors, Jacob Nottingham is the most experienced of the bunch and has been swinging a hot bat since being traded from the Mariners to the Giants last month for cash.

Let's take a look at 3 players the SF Giants can trade and still remain competitive.

3. Outfielder Joc Pederson

Of the three candidates named here, Joc Pederson might be the most in demand. After an astounding 2022 season in which he made his first All-Star Game in seven years, hit 23 home runs and had a 144 OPS+, he has been off to a red-hot start this year as well.

In 26 games, the outfielder has five home runs, 18 RBI and an OPS+ of 130. While he's still on the injured list and recovering from a hand injury he sustained last month, he's on his way back to The Show and is a painfully obvious trade candidate.

At 31-years-old, Pederson comes with his fair share of faults, like his complete inability to hit lefties and his poor defensive reputation in the outfield, but he also has plenty to like in his toolset.

Last season was proof that he still has what it takes to be a 20+ homer type of player, and his .274 average was also the highest he had put up in his entire career. Somehow, he seems to be getting even better at the plate as he ages, which is something the Giants should take into consideration and sell him while his value is high. A pending free agent, Pederson would represent a perfect power-hitting rental for a team looking to add to their club down the postseason stretch.

Since Pederson still has value, it's worth wondering if he could be used in a deal to acquire a starting pitcher that would help the Giants take the proverbial next step on their march to October baseball. Perhaps a one-for-one swap of a rental starting pitcher from one of the AL Central clubs who are already out of contention?

As is the case with both Flores and Bart before him, Pederson has plenty of capable replacements already in-house for the Giants. Austin Slater and Bryce Johnson are both riding the big league bench right now, but they could be in line for some additional at-bats if he is moved. Luis Matos is down in Triple-A but he is another player on the 40-man roster who could benefit from Pederson playing elsewhere.

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