SF Giants reminded of notable trade deadline obstacle as division rivals sell

As the SF Giants look to upgrade their roster ahead of the trade deadline, they have been reminded of an obstacle they are going to have to deal with. It is going to be difficult for them to trade within the division to improve the team.

With third baseman Ryan McMahon being traded from the Colorado Rockies to the New York Yankees and first baseman Josh Naylor being traded from the Arizona Diamondbacks to the Seattle Mariners, the Giants are seeing first hand that it may be tough to convince a division rival to play ball with them.

SF Giants know it will be tough to make trade with NL West rivals

Neither McMahon nor Naylor were great fits for the Giants. The Giants already have a third baseman in Matt Chapman and they have first base covered by Rafael Devers, Wilmer Flores, and Dom Smith for the time being.

Yet, with both players going to American League teams it shows the difficulties involved in trying to work out some sort of deal with a team that is a rival. It is pretty rare for the Giants to make trades within the division. One notable one that comes to mind is when the Rockies traded Marco Scutaro to the Giants back in 2012, but it does not happen very often.

As much as the Giants would love to have Merrill Kelly in their starting rotation or Eugenio Suárez batting in the middle of the order as the Diamondbacks begin their fire sale, it just seems like a tall ask to get Arizona to talk.

Similarly, the San Diego Padres are reportedly shopping starting pitcher Dylan Cease but do not expect San Francisco to land him as the two teams are locked in a close race to try and snag a National League Wild Card spot.

This could force the Giants to turn to an American League team to try and make a deal. ESPN reporter Buster Olney believes the Giants make sense as a trade destination for someone like Charlie Morton of the Baltimore Orioles.

President of baseball operations Buster Posey and the front office are surely exploring every avenue to try and put the team in the best position to make the playoffs. It just seems like to do so they are going to have to look outside of the NL West to get something done.

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