6 former SF Giants that are about to have a chance to get a World Series ring

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The San Francisco Giants were a pretty big disappointment in 2023. Going from being in contention at the top of the NL West at the All-Star break to missing the playoffs entirely yet again is a tough pill to swallow for a fanbase that has grown accustomed to winning.

However, the Giants are still making their mark on the 2023 postseason in a different way as there were a lot of former Giants players doing their thing in the playoffs this year. Zack Wheeler was famously a highly regarded prospect for San Francisco and he absolutely dominated for the Phillies in 2023 before they got eliminated in the NLCS. The list certainly doesn't end there and, in fact, there are a lot of former Giants that are about to take part in the World Series starting this weekend.

Here are 6 former SF Giants that are about to play in the World Series

The rules here are simple. To be eligible for the list, a player had to both be a member of the Giants organization at some point (prospects are allowed) and also had to have been on the big league rosters of either the Texas Rangers or the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2023. Not everyone will get rings obviously since there is just one winner after all or even play in the World Series due to injury/being bad, but all of these former Giants have shots at being able to call themselves World Series Champions when the dust settles.

Let's take a look at the former San Francisco Giants that are about to play in the Fall Classic.

Will Smith

From 2016 to 2019, Will Smith was one of the better relievers in all of baseball during his time with the Giants and found himself being one of the more desirable relievers on the market despite the fact that the Giants offered him a qualifying offer. The Braves ended up paying up to pry Smith away from San Francisco and he ended up winning a World Series with them as their closer in 2021. The last few years have been tough for Smith as he hasn't been nearly as effective since leaving San Francisco, but he is headed to the World Series with the Rangers where he posted a 4.40 ERA in 60 appearances with them in 2023

Chris Stratton

Chris Stratton has turned himself into a fine MLB reliever, that it sure didn't seem like that was the direction his career was headed during his time with the Giants. San Francisco's first round pick in the 2012 MLB Draft was originally a starting pitching prospect and a good one, but starting didn't work out well for him with the Giants. San Francisco ended up trading him to the Angels and later bounced around the league, converted to being a bullpen arm with Pittsburgh, and eventually landed with the Rangers at the trade deadline this year where he has become one of Texas' more reliable relievers.

Bruce Bochy

This one is cheating a little bit, but this sort of list would feel wrong if it didn't include the former Giants skipper. After a long stint with the Padres as their manager, Bochy came to San Francisco in 2007 and proceeded to win three World Series titles with the Giants and has become a bit of a managerial legend. He retired after the 2019 season, but the Rangers convinced him to come out of retirement for this season and, well, that decision has seemingly worked out well for Texas.

Evan Longoria

Over on the Diamondbacks' side, we have Evan Longoria who played for the Giants from 2018-2022. While he wasn't anywhere near as good with San Francisco as he was with the Rays early in his career, Longo still put up a reasonable .251/.312/.438 with the Giants while being a solid defender at third. The Giants declined his option after the 2022 season and Arizona picked him up on a one year, $4 million contract for this season where he saw limited playing time in the regular season, but has since become a key cog of the Diamondbacks' offense this postseason.

Madison Bumgarner

We won't be seeing Madison Bumgarner pitching in the World Series this year as he was released by the Diamondbacks back in April, but he still played (poorly) for Arizona in 2023 and would be in line to get a ring if the Diamondbacks can pull it off. Bumgarner needs no introduction to Giants' fans as he won three World Series rings, made four All-Star teams, and cemented his status as one of the best postseason pitchers of all-time during his tenure with the Giants.

Mark Melancon

Melancon is another name that could get to lay claim to the title of World Series Champion that won't be playing for the Diamondbacks in the series as a shoulder injury has kept him out for the entire 2023 season. However, he is a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks which is the NINTH team he has played for in his career. His best days as a reliever were with Pittsburgh where he was one of the best bullpen arms in baseball, but he was still a very solid reliever in San Francisco from 2017 until the Giants' traded him to the Braves at the 2019 trade deadline.

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