SF Giants are realizing they missed their best chance to trade struggling outfielder

It has been well documented that the SF Giants outfield is struggling right now. Harrison Bader, Jung Hoo Lee, and Heliot Ramos have all left a lot to be desired with their play so far, and the Giants may be coming to realize they missed their best opportunity to trade away Ramos.

There was some chatter in the offseason about the possibility that Ramos could be dealt. He was an All-Star in 2024 and is under team control until 2030 so he's a pretty valuable trade asset even if there are some obvious holes in his game.

The defense was a really big issue last season as he graded out as the worst defensive left fielder in the league. This season he hasn't been quite as bad defensively, but fans do not quite feel confident whenever a ball gets hit to left.

Ramos' strikeouts may be more concerning than his glove this year

Perhaps the bigger concern has to do with his alarming strikeout rate at the plate. Ramos has struck out 22 times so far this season which is tied for eighth-most in all of MLB. Looking at the other top names on that list, many of them are power hitters who have a number of home runs on the season. Strikeouts are often forgiven if they player provides thump, but Ramos has no home runs on the season so far. He is slashing .241/.267/.276 with six runs batted in and just two walks compared to the 22 strikeouts.

It is still early in the season and there is time for Ramos to come around, but one cannot help but think about what the Giants could have gotten for him had they traded him earlier.

It's easy to look back and second guess, but with how bad the outfield has been to start the season it's clear that something just is not working. Whether it's related to the fact that Ramos, Bader, and Lee all participated in the World Baseball Classic or maybe they are all just streaky hitters, whatever the cause it needs to be fixed.

Ramos has put up really solid offensive numbers each of his last two seasons so he cannot be written off completely yet. He's notoriously dangerous against left-handed pitching and the Giants have struggled mightily against lefties for years so he can still be a weapon.

It's not too late to trade him, though. If he gets hot and looks like his 2024 self then the Giants could deal him at the deadline if things go south. But they probably wouldn't get anywhere near what they would have gotten had they been a bit more proactive.

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