Wednesday BP: Trade deadline temp check

Good morning, baseball fans.

So uh, that was quite the trade deadline yesterday. Not for the San Francisco Giants, I mean. But for the other, more active teams.

The San Diego Padres seem to be attempting to out-Monstar the Los Angeles Dodgers. Meanwhile the Giants are going to try to putter along like Bart Simpson alone in the rowboat and hope that it leads somewhere better than where they’re at now.

I would love to have future me point and laugh at this in October, when the Giants somehow sneak their way back into the playoffs and perform some of that October magic we’ve seen in years past, lauding the hidden genius of the front office.

But, uh, in the meantime, this feels more like treading water. Give the fans a little hopeful playoff chatter while tinkering with a fairly mediocre team, compared to others in the division.

And the timing of this year’s deadline could not make that more obvious.

Farhan Zaidi says they were in discussions with the Washington Nationals about Juan Soto, saying that no one was off limits in that discussion, but that the Nationals ultimately preferred the Padres’ offer. Which is one of those things that’s probably true, but leaves one with a feeling of “sure you did,” especially as he sat in the broadcast booth last night watching the Giants give up run after run.

And while it was always true that this team was never “one guy away” from being more serious contenders, after losing six straight to the Dodgers, one can’t be faulted for hoping for a little more than shipping out Darin Ruf and Curt Casali and seeing what sticks from the return.

That said, it’s quite possible that they did make a serious effort try to trade players like Carlos Rodón and Joc Pederson and the market just wasn’t there for them in a meaningful way. Which, if that were the case, would say even worse things about the state of the team if those are the most valuable players.

Temp Check: Underwhelmed. It’s like the worst of both worlds. They didn’t go all in on 2022 in any meaningful way, but also didn’t or couldn’t take the opportunity to trade their top performers to help jump boost a rebuild. It’s more of the same. And that, in itself, has been largely underwhelming.

What were your thoughts?

What time do the Giants play today?

The Giants play game three of this four-game series against the Dodgers tonight at 6:45 p.m. PT.

Lastly, I would like to personally send my condolences to the family, friends, fans and colleagues of Vin Scully. The Giants and Dodgers have a storied rivalry spanning many decades, and while I may love to hate the team, I respected the heck out of Vin Scully. He will be sorely missed and leaves a magnificent legacy of broadcasting excellence.