Whisenhunt's start with SF Giants could serve as audition ahead of trade deadline

The SF Giants called up their top pitching prospect Carson Whisenhunt and he will start Monday night's game. This start could end up being an audition for other teams if the Giants try to trade Whisenhunt ahead of the July 31st trade deadline.

Whisenhunt has been viewed as an intriguing potential trade piece for some time. The left-handed starter has a filthy changeup and even though his stats in Triple-A have not been that strong the past two seasons, he does still have a lot of upside and is one of the top prospects in the organization.

Whisenhunt's start with SF Giants could be an audition for other teams

If he has a solid start on Monday and proves that his stuff can play at the big league level, that could pique the interest of other teams out there who may be looking to sell. Of course, they will not be basing their decision on one outing but it would not hurt his trade value if he looked good.

San Francisco has a number of needs they need to address at the deadline. Starting pitching is the most pressing one, so maybe they would be willing to trade Whisenhunt in exchange for a more proven starter.

Paradoxically, Whisenhunt's start on Monday also serves as an audition for the Giants' front office. If he goes out and delivers a solid start, maybe they buy into the belief that he could be a part of the rotation for the rest of the year with Hayden Birdsong struggling so badly he was demoted and Landen Roupp on the IL.

Clearly, the Giants are not calling Whisenhunt up just to showcase him for other teams. Their rotation is in trouble and he made sense as a fresh arm who can start and has a realistic chance to give the team five innings.

Yet, the fact that his first MLB start comes right before the deadline does have the added benefit of giving other teams something more to go off if they are interested in trading for him.

The Giants did already trade away a promising young left-handed starter this year when they sent Kyle Harrison to the Boston Red Sox in the Rafael Devers trade. Perhaps part of the reason why they felt okay parting ways with Harrison is because they knew they had Whisenhunt as another young lefty in the organization with potential.

The Giants would most likely want to keep Whisenhunt if they can help it, but if a team has a player the Giants need and they want Whisenhunt as part of a deal, the front office may be hard-pressed to say no.

It will be exciting to see Whisenhunt take the ball in his MLB debut no matter what, but the start serves as both an audition for San Francisco's front office and front offices around the league which definitely raises the stakes on his debut outing.

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