SF Giants unlocked a new trade chip after Landen Roupp's not-so-subtle protest

The SF Giants are continuing to go the wrong way as they are currently 15 games under .500. Basically everyone should be on the table in trade talks ahead of the August 3 deadline and the team may have unlocked a new trade chip after Landen Roupp’s protest on Pride Night.

Roupp and several other Giants pitchers wrote biblical verses on their hats which had a rainbow “SF” logo on them to celebrate Pride Night at Oracle Park. After the game Roupp explained that there was no hate in his decision but it was very clearly a protest of the team’s decision to celebrate the LGBTQ community.

It’s his right to do that, but the Giants can also do whatever they want with him ahead of the deadline. This sort of blatant protest could be interpreted as a trade request of sorts if Roupp is really so uncomfortable with wearing a hat that he felt the need to cause controversy and alienate fans. Perhaps San Francisco simply isn’t the right fit for him.

To be clear, the Giants shouldn’t trade Roupp only because of his protest. He is one of the team’s best trade chips in terms of pitchers which really says more about the sad state of affairs on the pitching staff than it does about him.

After he struggled through 4 and 2/3 innings on Friday night, he now has a 4.24 ERA in 14 starts on the season. He’s struck out 82 batters and walked 33 in 74 and 1/3 innings pitched. At times he has looked like the best pitcher on the staff but he’s been way too inconsistent.

Roupp would be an attractive trade chips for a lot of teams

Roupp is just 27 years old and is not set to hit free agency for a number of years. He had a 3.80 ERA in 22 starts last season and that’s including his last two starts which were marred by injury before he went down with a knee injury.

While it may seem risky for the Giants to trade Roupp when they only have him, Logan Webb, and Adrian Houser as starters under contract for next season, it may not be the best plan to go into 2027 with Webb and Roupp as the team’s No. 1 and No. 2 starters.

They are both sinkerballers and are quite similar in their delivery and repertoire so that could make the team's rotation fairly predictable when they should probably try to create more variance and have different looks amongst their starters. 

Roupp is the kind of pitcher a team in need of a starter would like to have. What about the Atlanta Braves who are very obviously a contender and have several pitchers on the IL? They could use a starter like Roupp and the North Carolina native would probably be much more comfortable heading back to the South.

Plus, the Braves may end up being the biggest threat to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League so with the playoffs pretty clearly out of reach for the Giants they should probably just deal their better players to teams that could take out the Dodgers to ruin their chance at a three-peat.

The Giants are in a position to sell and Roupp’s protest makes it pretty clear he wouldn’t mind being sold. They should definitely listen if teams come calling and should probably even be proactive and reach out to see what teams are interested in him.

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