SF Giants: Internal options who make more sense than trading for a player

1. Starting pitcher

While the starting pitching corps has been solid for the Giants, there's little doubt that bringing aboard another arm at the trade deadline would be a huge boost for the club. But what if there was a young gun down in Triple-A that could come up to the bigs without costing the team any high-end talent in a trade?

Enter Kyle Harrison.

The 21-year-old southpaw is widely considered to be the very best left-handed pitching prospect in the game, and rightfully so. He spent last year in both High-A and Double-A at just 20-years-old and has since made the jump to the highest level of the minor leagues. Through 14 starts in 2023, he has been lights out.

Harrison has 47.1 innings under his belt this year and the numbers have been great. He has a 3.42 ERA with a whopping 80 strikeouts already (15.2 SO/9) and has surrendered just five home runs. He's still a bit green, as evidenced by his 7.0 BB/9 rate, but he is doing an efficient job at keeping hits and home runs off the board.

Another option for starting pitching depth is Sean Newcomb, who is in Triple-A on a minor league contract. The 30-year-old has found success as a big leaguer over the years in a six-year career and has been off to a nice start with the Giants. In six innings across four outings, he has 10 strikeouts with just one earned run allowed.

Bringing up someone like Harrison or even Newcomb could prove to be smarter for a Giants club that may not be comfortable sacrificing the future for a rental piece.