Trading Logan Webb only makes sense if SF Giants plan to tear it down (which they don't)

If there was ever a season for the SF Giants to tear everything down and try to start over, 2026 would have been it. The team had such a bad first half that under different circumstances maybe they would have sold everyone, but they did not and made it clear that ace Logan Webb was not going anywhere.

The Giants have a chance to revisit a Webb trade in the offseason, but it still feels highly unlikely that he will be dealt. As our own Jeff Young pointed out earlier today, the Giants are not rebuilding as evidenced by their commitment to build up the bullpen so that means Webb is still going to be the ace of the staff in 2027.

That’s probably the right call because with how much money the Giants have committed to players like Willy Adames, Matt Chapman, and Rafael Devers they really have to at least stay in a state of quasi-contention for now. The trade deadline moves were a recognition that they needed to infuse the farm system with more pitching, but they stopped short of essentially admitting defeat in 2027 by holding onto the “big three” as well as Webb and Jung Hoo Lee.

Now the question becomes whether Webb’s rough 2026 was an aberration or the start of a decline. He had his worst season since 2020 with a 4.31 ERA in 27 starts. He failed to reach 200 innings for the first time since 2022 and just went through stretches where he did not look like himself and had some uncharacteristic blowup starts.

One could easily just chalk up his bad season to the extra strain of participating in the World Baseball Classic, a knee ailment that landed him on the IL for a month and might have lingered throughout the season, and just whatever general curse plagued San Francisco in 2026.

No one would be surprised at all if Webb went back to being his usual self and had a really solid year.

Giants have been burned in the past by declining aces

Yet, at the same time the Giants know what it’s like to see an ace in decline. This is the team that saw Tim Lincecum slowly lose his fastball and become a shell of his former self, watched as Matt Cain was eaten up by injuries later in his career, and was actually fortunate enough to miss out on Madison Bumgarner’s decline after he signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks in free agency.

There’s a case to be made that now is the time to trade Webb while he still has value, but the Giants still aren’t going to do that.

Perhaps that’s a wise move and Webb is a Cy Young contender in 2027 and helps lead the team to a good season, but he’s about to turn 30 and we’ve seen enough pitchers decline after hitting that mark that it is definitely a little risky for the Giants to stick with Webb. If the team has a bad season in 2027, then all bets may be off but for now the Giants think they can turn it around and believe Webb can be a part of that. 

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