Giants stay mostly quiet at the deadline

The was a whole lot of talk about the San Francisco Giants leading up to the deadline. Would they trade Carlos Rodón? Would they trade Joc Pederson? Would they trade Wilmer Flores? Would they be buyers?

The answers are, in order: no, no, no, and no.

The deadline has come and gone, and San Francisco was mostly quiet. They traded four MLB players, and two of them had yet to play for the Giants. The other two had combined for +0.6 WAR this year.

The biggest move was trading Darin Ruf after his two brilliant years in 2020 and 2021. But while Ruf’s lovability and smile can’t be replaced, his on field production can be. Specifically by the person they traded him for: J.D. Davis, who profiles as a very similar player to Ruf, but a lot younger and with an extra year of team control. The Giants also got three pitching prospects from the New York Mets, including their No. 20 and 21 prospects, per Fangraphs.

That’s not nothing!

Then they turned around and sent catcher Curt Casali — as well as starting right-handed pitcher Matt Boyd, who was injured when he signed and remains injured today — to the Seattle Mariners. In return, the Giants snagged a strikeout and walk-heavy AA reliever and a catcher who is destroying the baseball in High-A, albeit at age 24.

And finally the Giants shipped off reliever Trevor Rosenthal — signed 12 days ago, and not yet off the Injured List — to the Milwaukee Brewers for a 22-year old outfield prospect who is also crushing the ball in High-A.

The Giants didn’t go all-in by buying, which makes sense. But they also didn’t really sell. You can make the case that they’re just as good today as they were yesterday, which gives them a chance to make a run down the stretch, all while keeping their best players and bolstering their farm a little.

Sounds like they’re ready.