Reporters can't decide if SF Giants outfielder is untouchable or expendable

One of the more interesting decisions the SF Giants will have ahead of the August 3 trade deadline is what to do with outfielder Jung Hoo Lee. Reporters seem to be split on whether the Giants view him as expendable or untouchable in trade talks.

Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic is a local reporter who has speculated that the Giants will not be open to trading fan-favorites like Lee and Logan Webb because the team’s robust attendance numbers do not warrant a full-scale tear down. 

National reporters like Bob Nightengale don’t view Lee as being quite so untouchable, highlighting other players like Webb, Bryce Eldridge, and Casey Schmitt as being off the table. Maybe this simply comes down to local reporters seeing the Hoo-Lee-Gans at Oracle Park on a nightly basis and knowing that there would be a lot of heartbroken Giants fans if the team decided to deal Lee.

But from a pure baseball standpoint it’s easy to make a case either to keep Lee or to trade him. While he was one of the team’s hottest hitters at times earlier in the year, he’s cooled off a bit as of late. Still, his offensive numbers are what the Giants were hoping for when he was signed to that six-year, $113 million deal.

He’s hitting .304/.336/.428 with five home runs and 33 runs batted in. That’s the exact sort of contact-first offensive profile the Giants envisioned.

Lee hasn't been perfect in all facets of the game

Still, he hasn’t been everything the Giants could have hoped for. His stolen base totals are still very low which is disappointing since the hope was he could be a guy who could swipe 20 or more bases per year. His defense has also been disappointing as he was moved off center field this season because his defense wasn’t strong enough.

Then there’s the contract situation. He is able to opt out of his deal following the 2027 season so there’s a chance he opts out and signs elsewhere if he feels he can get more than $20.5 million on the open market.

These next few weeks could be when his value is at its highest because any team that trade for him would at least get him for all of 2027. Teams in desperate need of outfield help like the Detroit Tigers, Philadelphia Phillies, and New York Yankees would all make sense as suitors.

It may be a situation where the Giants are not actively shopping Lee but if they’re blown away by an offer they may choose to deal him. It’s important to remember that the team had a highly publicized visit to South Korea in the offseason and has been very open about their hopes to gain a foothold in the Korean market so trading Lee after he’s had a solid season would obviously blow that strategy up.

While the national media can see Lee being traded, people closer to the team think he will stay put and that seems like the more likelier outcome at this point unless the Giants get an offer they cannot refuse.

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