SF Giants Rumors: No, they aren’t trading Rafael Devers despite Buster Olney’s wild Yankees speculation

While there was a time this season when SF Giants fans, including yours truly, were very open to the possibility that Rafael Devers could be traded, that now seems unthinkable. Devers has been the hottest hitter in baseball as of late and he kept on rolling Friday night by hitting a grand slam against old friend Robbie Ray who is now with the San Diego Padres.

Yet, this hot streak has inspired Buster Olney of ESPN to speculate that Devers could be a perfect fit with the New York Yankees if the Giants are open to trading him. This is obviously just him spitballing on a podcast and not based on any real discussions between San Francisco and New York, but there is simply no way the Giants are going to trade Devers in the offseason.

After getting a taste of the Devers-Bryce Eldridge one-two punch, the Giants are not going to be looking to break up that duo which could give opposing pitchers fits for years.

Still, for an East Coast reporter like Olney who is firmly entrenched in the national baseball media, it's understandable why he'd think the Giants would be open to trading Devers. The team isn't very good, they traded a lot of guys at the deadline, and there were reports earlier this year that the Giants were open to offloading their big contracts. Plus, the storyline of Devers going to New York and tormenting the Boston Red Sox, his former team, for years is just so juicy to think about.

Giants are still trying to be competitive despite terrible 2026

The thing Olney may not realize is that the Giants think they can be competitive next year and the rest of this decade. While this season has been a disaster, the lineup isn't terrible on paper with everyone healthy and if they actually made substantive additions to the pitching staff it's not completely insane to think San Francisco could contend for a Wild Card spot in 2027 or 2028.

If they were to trade Devers to the Yankees, unless they got a really good pitcher in return like Cam Schittler, that would make contending nearly impossible. We know Devers is streaky but he's proven this last month that he can carry a team on his back and lead them to some pretty inspired play.

The Giants aren't going to give up on him just yet. Now, if in 2028 the Giants are still one of the worst teams in MLB and Devers remains an absolute menace at the plate then they may have to consider moving on from him.

Until then though, Buster Posey is likely going to keep this core nucleus of Willy Adames, Matt Chapman, and Devers intact to see if this group can play winning baseball over the course of a full season. Of course, when it comes to Adames and Chapman they aren't going to have many takers given the way they performed this year and how much money they're still owed.

Surely there will be more Devers trade chatter going forward, but the Giants aren't going to blow things up just yet so don't expect No. 16 to go anywhere soon.

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