SF Giants rumors: Ex-prospect reportedly does not want to return to Giants

It has been over seven years since the SF Giants traded outfielder Bryan Reynolds to the Pittsburgh Pirates in order to acquire Andrew McCutchen. Now, Reynolds has made it clear he is not keen on returning to San Francisco any time soon.

Reynolds has the ability to veto trades for up to six MLB teams per his contract, and the Giants are reportedly one of the six teams he does not want to be dealt to along with the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, New York Mets, New York Yankees, and Toronto Blue Jays.

Former SF Giants prospect does not want to be traded to San Francisco

In 2018, the Giants sent Reynolds and pitcher Kyle Crick, both prospects at the time, to the Pirates in exchange for McCutchen. San Francisco was coming off a dreadful 2017 season and was looking to revamp things with the trade.

The trade did not work out as McCutchen did not even last the whole season with the Giants as he was traded to the Yankees while Reynolds has gone on to be a very solid player in Pittsburgh as a two-time All-Star. It is not overstatement to say the trade was one of the worst in the history of the Giants.

Reynolds is having a bit of a down season for the Pirates as he is slashing .229/.294/.380 with 10 home runs and 45 runs driven in. With the Pirates having a bad season, it would not be a big surprise if they decided to sell at the trade deadline which is why Reynolds could be on the move.

It is interesting that Reynolds included exclusively teams in contention on his no-trade list. Maybe he just really does not want to go to New York, California, or out of the country, or maybe he chose contenders to try and increase the amount of leverage he has in determining where he could end up.

Even if the Giants were not on his no-trade list, he would not be a perfect fit on the team. The Giants already have Jung Hoo Lee, Heliot Ramos, and Mike Yastrzemski in their outfield. Reynolds could represent something of an upgrade over Yastrzemski but they would be rolling the dice that Reynolds could turn things around after a tough start to the year.

For now though, that is all moot unless Reynolds were to waive that no-trade clause to the Giants which seems unlikely. Maybe he will never forgive the franchise for trading him away. He certainly has made the Giants pay in his career, slashing .294/.336/.460 with five homers and 23 RBI in his career against San Francisco.

It is interesting to ponder how things would be different had the Giants not traded Reynolds, but a reunion seems highly unlikely.