SF Giants closer may have already thrown his last pitch for the team

The SF Giants have tough decisions to make ahead of the July 30th trade deadline. One player that could be on the way out, closer Camilo Doval, may have already thrown his last pitch in a Giants uniform.

SF Giants closer may have already thrown his last pitch for the team

There is no clear path forward for the San Francisco Giants. They sit at 47-50 at the All-Star break. While the season has been mediocre and, on the whole, disappointing so far, not all hope is lost.

One can easily make the case that the Giants are beginning to find their stride. Their lineup is starting to produce more consistently even if they are by no means an offensive powerhouse. They are getting contributions from veterans and younger players alike.

Their rotation has been a bit of a mess in the first half, but Logan Webb has been phenomenal, Jordan Hicks has shown promise despite recent struggles, and Kyle Harrison has been solid in his first full season. Plus, the Blake Snell we have seen in his last two starts looks a lot like the Cy Young Snell we saw last year. Add in the fact that Robbie Ray and Alex Cobb are due back soon and you could make the case that if things go according to plan the Giants could have a fairly formidable rotation that could lead them to the postseason.

That is the sunny appraisal of the situation.

On the flip side of that coin, you could argue that the team spent over $200 million in the offseason and they do not have much to show for it. Jung Hoo Lee got hurt, Blake Snell has been awful despite the recent turnaround, Jorge Soler has disappointed, and Matt Chapman has been about average.

If you subscribe to this view, you may advocate for the team to sell off their assets to try and get some prospects because the free agent splurge was a failure. There have been signals from the front office that they may subscribe to this view.

No matter what view you subscribe to, one move could make a good deal of sense for the team: trading closer Camilo Doval.

In his tenure as a Giants, Doval has been dominant at times even if his deficiencies like pitch clock violations and mental errors can drive fans crazy. There is no questioning his raw stuff with an electric fastball that hits triple digits and a wicked slider.

However, Doval has not been his usual self this season. He has converted 17/21 save opportunities which is not awful, but his ERA is 4.38 which is the highest of his career by a wide margin. His walk rate is way up this year as he has already issued 24 free passes this season in 37 innings of work compared to 26 issued in 67 and 2/3 innings last season. He walked the first batter of the 9th inning against the Twins on Sunday which set up their rally that tied the game. Thankfully, a hit by Mike Yastrzemski and some Bad News Bears defense from the Twins did not cost the Giants the victory.

There is no question that his struggles have diminished his trade value, but a contending team would still jump at the chance to add Doval to their bullpen. He still has the potential to be an elite closer if he can cut down on the walks.

Plus, if the Giants do trade him they have several internal candidates who could slide into the role without too much difficulty. Therefore, concievably the Giants could trade Doval to get a prospect while at the same time not hurting their chances at the postseason too much. There is risk involved with this strategy, but it could be the best of both worlds if the front office does not really want to buy or sell.