Rival executive: SF Giants "are not going to trade" Carlos Rodón at MLB trade deadline

Are the SF Giants going to trade All-Star pitcher Carlos Rodón ahead of today's 3:00 P.M. trade deadline? That seems to be the question that many teams around the league are pondering, but one rival executive believes that the Giants have already tipped their hand.

Rival executive: SF Giants "are not going to trade" Carlos Rodón at MLB trade deadline

Mark Feinsand of MLB.Com spoke to a rival executive who offered his or her thoughts on whether the Giants would trade Rodón:

The Giants are 51-52 after dropping the first game of a four-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday night. They are 4.5 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies for the third and final Wild Card spot.

The St. Louis Cardinals also sit ahead of the Giants in the Wild Card race. The Atlanta Braves will almost certainly be one of the three Wild Card teams, whereas the Phillies, Cardinals, San Diego Padres, and the Giants are fighting for the final two spots. The Giants are very much on the outside looking in with this race.

With all that being said, they have an outside shot at making the playoffs and that seems to be enough for the front office to hold onto the eight-year veteran. The Baltimore Orioles were in a similar position in the American League with respect to the Wild Card race and they traded away power-hitting first baseman Trey Mancini on Monday.

That was a move that shocked many people considering that the Orioles are in the midst of one of their more promising seasons in recent memory. That trade will likely thwart any playoff push they might have had, which is a bitter pill to swallow.

Should the Giants follow in the Orioles' footsteps? That is a tough question to answer. After all, Carlos Rodón having a superb year on the mound as he has registered a 3.00 ERA, 2.29 FIP, 1.07 WHIP, 11.6 K/9, and a 4.05 SO/W ratio in 123 innings. He surpassed the 110-inning threshold, which enabled an opt-out clause that he will almost certainly exercise at the end of this season.

In essence, he is a rental and one of the best pitchers remaining on the trade market. The trades for Luis Castillo (Seattle Mariners) and Frankie Montas (New York Yankees) could serve as loose templates for what Rodón could fetch on the trade market. It bears mentioning that both players have team control beyond this season, so they carry more inherent value than a two-month rental like Rodón.

As things currently stand, the Giants do not plan to trade their All-Star pitcher. A lot can change between now and the trade deadline, so nothing is set in stone.