Giants Talk: Why San Francisco must listen to any offers this trade deadline

Fri, Jul 10, 2026

Giants Talk: Why San Francisco must listen to any offers this trade deadline originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Video Transcript

Hey, what's up Giants fans?

Welcome to another episode of Giants Talk.

I'm Cole Kuiper here with Giants insider Alex Pavlovic.

We've got a great episode for you today.

Alex in Kyland sat down with the man himself, Buster Posey.

I know we always wanna hear from Buster.

Giants had a rough series versus the Blue Jays.

Plus, we have an all-time remembering some guys segment for you as we approach trade season.

All that and much more.

But before we get started, Giants Talk is presented by Mancini's Sleepworld.

Mancini's is now the official sleep partner of the San Francisco Giants.

You can save up to $1,200 on cooling mattresses at the Mancini's Sleepworld 4th of July sale.

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All right, Alex, let's start with some Giants versus Blue Jays talk.

And I think I'd Right off the top, I wanna nominate a clear player of the series in Elliot Ramos.

Not only did he ha- He start the game on Monday with a little league home run, ended up hitting two more knocks, but he broke up Wednesday's no-hitter in the ninth inning at the last minute, and flipped the bat while doing so.

Can I counter with Dylan Cease?

Oh, you know what?

That is a very rational- Yeah and very strong choice.

Also, a, a fair amount was made of Elliot flipping his bat.

This guy flips his bat after walks.

Like he- Yeah he flips his bat every single time he has a bat in his hand.

He throws his bat into the net on a swing probably once a series.

Like I, I don't- That's, that's how he releases his bat.

It, yeah, he, he releases his bat every single time.

Like, I get, like, Blue Jays fans being a little upset, but I saw some Giants people tweeting about it.

I'm like, "Do you not watch him the rest of the year?"

He flips his bat every single time he has it in his hand.

So.

Yeah.

Shout out Elliot Ramos.

I mean, the rest of the series obviously didn't go as good as Monday's game, but the performance he put up Monday from start to end, that, that was fantastic.

Yeah.

He was, he was the MVP of the series for the Giants.

it was a reminder of, like, when he's right.

He's, like, such a different kind of player than really what they have, but even most of what you see in Major League Baseball.

Like, he is like a football player.

Like, he's- Yeah he's, he's so energetic and, it, it's, like, you see him running around the bases even in, in these, for this team that's playing poorly and the season that's going poorly.

And, I think Tony's joked a few times, like when he came back from the IL, they heard him before they saw him.

Like, he's, he's excited to be back and Excuse me.

You and I did a lot of talking yesterday.

So.

We did.

we were together rarely doing some promotional stuff.

but yeah, I think it's, it, it's an interesting question with Elliot because he's kind of been pushed to the s- to the side of this whole Giants big three.

And Jung Hoo Lee's broken out and Luis Arias and Casey Schmidt have been, you know, Luis is an actual all-star.

Casey has had kind of an all-star season.

And you, you forget about Elliot at times.

And, he's a young guy who's been an all-star in the past, and he's capable of leading off for them at times.

And he's capable of showing a ton of power and I, I don't know where it goes for him.

probably gonna come up in trade rumors over the next month, because I think almost everybody except for like two guys are gonna come up in trade rumors.

But, a- and he would make a lot of sense for a lot of teams.

Um- That was gonna be my next question.

I mean, is the fact that he's a young guy, the kind of guy the Giants would be hoping to build a team around, kind of saving him from being traded in this situation?

Or like, how, how bad of a selling would you think we'll be in?

I don't, I don't think it's saving him.

I, I think, you know, I, I think he's in that boat of guys like Buster in I asked Buster in the interview coming up about Logan.

Mm-hmm.

Like, kind of followed up on what he said a few weeks ago.

And, he's made it very clear he doesn't wanna trade Logan.

Bryce Elder's obviously untouchable for many reasons.

But I th- and then I think there's like a group of guys that we've talked about.

You know, there's a group like Robbie Ray and Arias who are easy trade candidates.

And then- Mm-hmm there's a group of guys who are, yeah, we, we wouldn't mind, we wouldn't mind getting rid of some of that money or, we wouldn't mind opening up that roster spot.

the Devers, the Adames, Tyler O'Malley- Mm-hmm Adrian Hauser, guys like that.

I think there's another group of guys, and we can talk about Jung Hoo as well, where it's kind of like you have to listen just because you, you're in this position and you have to see how you can get some pitching.

And, I think Elliot, Jung Hoo Lee, and Casey Schmidt are probably p- pretty similar in that you'd love to have them on next year's team.

You'd love, love to have them for years to come.

And, and Elliot and Casey in particular are young guys who are cost controlled.

But you also kind of have to listen because you, you have such a pitching deficit that if someone's like, "Hey, we'll give you a good young starter for your good young outfielder," you have to have those conversations.

And I, I think you will.

And I, I would imagine they're gonna get a few calls on Elliot because he's, he's such a good fit for so many teams.

If, you know, he's The, the defense is, hasn't been great the last couple years.

I think, I think it's been much better this year than last.

But, again, he's also a good fit for the Giants.

So, just they obviously have a lot of guys on the infield, don't have a lot of guys in the outfield.

And I don't think they have guys with that kind of, that many guys with that kind of energy.

And- Yeah and we've also seen what he's capable of when he's right.

So an interesting one, and somebody who's kind of been off the radar most of this season and most of our trade deadline discussions, just 'cause he was literally off the radar on the injured list.

But comes back and, and he's been their best player the last couple weeks.

So.

Yeah.

yeah, I, I think that Just think we'll see his name start to pop up in some, whether it's a- You know, has any, any, reality to it or not, I think you're gonna start to see some other teams and maybe some national guys start to be like, "Huh, Elliot Ramos is, is a good fit in a lot of places."

Well, we'll obviously get to much more trade discussion after the All-Star break is over, when kind of that's all, all that's on anyone's mind.

We've got the draft done, we've got the All-Star game done, and then it'll be nothing but trade.

But until then, in the meantime, there's been a lot of chatter online, including a lot of questions from Giants Talk listeners about ESPN's trade deadline- Yeah list, they do every year ranking the top 100 trade candidates.

And the chatter has mostly been because within the top 10 are two Giants, one of whom hasn't come up a ton on Giants Talk here, and that's Jung-hoo Lee at number seven on ESPN's list.

just two spots ahead of Luis Arias.

I have heard from some other teams that there's just, you know, some, some curiosity.

Mm-hmm.

Just like, would they?

I, again, I, I'll say I think he's in that boat of like, you have to listen.

and you, you know, you, you have to see what, what's out there.

I would also I'd separate him from Elliot in this respect that, one, it's a much different money conversation.

So that's, that's gonna impact the return quite a bit.

Um- Mm-hmm and what, what kind of return you're looking at if you do have that conversation.

Two, he's, he's like such an important piece to so many people in this fan base, and this is one of those where I always try to keep in mind, 'cause I think a lot of our listeners, I know last podcast you shouted out like our international listeners.

And I think a lot of people, not just who listen, but a lot of people who are very online for the Giants, this is not a knock, but they just don't go to games very often.

They maybe can't go to games very often.

They're not around or they're just, they live like in Southern California or England or- Mm-hmm Australia or whatever.

And I think when you go to games, you get a different sense of what Jung-hoo Lee means to the live fan base.

Yeah.

When you're at games, Jung-hoo Lee is the Giants.

Yes.

He's very clearly like the most popular player- Yeah in the ballpark.

so I, I, I would I do think that matters.

and I, I think, look, they're not gonna, like, they're not in a position where they can just say like, "We need people who We sell a lot of jerseys."

Like they, they can't be part of trade discussions.

but I do think that matters, and I think that's important to remember.

and that's something that I think people who just aren't here would, would miss, just like- Mm-hmm and I- you go to a fair amount of games as a, as a fan.

Like it's, he's very, very popular in the ballpark.

He, he gets his name chanted like unlike any player that I can remember in recent memory.

when he- Yeah comes to the plate, the place goes nuts.

There at least at one point were two separate distinct cheering sections.

Yeah.

One Giant sanctioned, one not.

I mean, he's got lore.

Yeah.

It's pretty awesome.

And I The other thing I'll say is they, they have to examine everything.

They also The Jung-hoo money should not be a part of this at all.

And this is funny because like two months ago, you and I were talking about how that contract borderline approaches some of the other ones.

Yeah.

And all of a sudden- And he's been Yeah.

He, he's been really good now for most of this season.

And actually, you look at the contract and you're like, "It's not that much money."

Like- Yes and this is a time where I think you have to remember these are the San Francisco Giants and like popular guy who plays a position where you've had trouble developing people over the years and has been very productive this season.

And really, like I, I'm not making excuses for him, but like if you look at his first two years, like the first year he- Not his fault he, he, first year not his fault, and then the second year I think he just ran out of gas.

And I think- Mm-hmm the second year was his true rookie year adjustment to Major League Baseball.

Like, you can look at the talent level of the guy they signed, and go, yeah, this is who he's supposed to be.

So this is a lot of what you can expect for the next three years.

I just don't think Like, I don't put him in the same boat as, as the bigger contracts.

Like it's, it's not a lot of money, and the San Francisco Giants should not be worried about an outfielder making $20 million a year if he's productive and he's yeah.

So I, I If someone blows you away for a Jung-hoo Lee or a Casey Schmidt or an Elliot Ramos, and has a lot of pitching to offer, and you, you think you have enough lineup depth next year, then yeah, you have those conversations.

But I really don't think Jung-hoo Like, I think they would have to be blown away on the Jung-hoo thing.

Yeah.

'Cause it's not like you're like, "Okay, we can get out from under 140 million on this one."

Like, he's a Now he's a reasonably priced player.

Um- Yeah very popular and plays a position where I like Bo Davidson, I like Dakota Jordan.

I think one of these young infielders is probably gonna end up in the outfield just 'cause that's how it goes.

But like currently not a ton of depth.

so.

That's why it's so shocking to see him so high on a list like this.

And I don't wanna accuse ESPN of not knowing ball, but it, it- kind of seems like the kind of thing that if you go to Giants games, if you follow the Giants, it's crystal clear he's not number one on the Giants trade candidates list.

Uh- Yeah but then again, we're talking about it.

it's people all around Giants fandom are sending this article around.

So, you know, articles have purposes beyond what, what their stated purpose is.

Yeah.

I never n- you know, I've made a few lists in my career.

I- they're pretty random.

No way.

So.

Nothing goes viral like a list, Alex.

It, it- These two guys should be swapped.

This guy's too high.

What are you thinking?

People's Lists really get people's juices flowing.

It's such a good way.

I mean, people don't even like- No one even like quote tweets articles anymore.

They just go like, "The Giants have six guys in the ESPN Trade Top 100."

Exactly.

And I'm always like, no disrespect to the writers, but also can we step back and like what did you just say?

Yeah.

What do you mean the Giants have six guys in the This isn't the Giants have six guys in the, on the home run leader board.

This is a- Yep.

Yeah.

It's um- Yeah but I, I think we haven't, we, you put it here and I didn't delete it because, we haven't a- There are questions about it.

Yeah.

We haven't addressed Jung Hoo Lee's trade possibilities really at all, 'cause we've been so focused on other people.

Yeah.

Well, Jung Hoo Lee getting traded would be devastating to, I think, a lot of Giants fans.

We will, talk a lot more trade as the rest of July happens.

Let's circle back to this Blue Jays series though, Alex.

Giants had a brush with disaster on Wednesday night as they almost got no-hit by Dylan Cease at home, which I believe would have been the first opposing team no-hitter at Oracle Park, which is shocking being such a- Yeah a pitcher friendly ballpark with an offense that has many times found itself lacking over the past 20 years.

but yeah, Elliot Ramos to the rescue bailing them out at the last second.

Not the first, no-hitter taken to the ninth we've seen on either side.

but I don't know, it, it's an exciting type of, type of game.

I was kind of at the point where I, I wanted it to happen just 'cause it's, they're so fun to see.

Someone told me that like most of the ballpark, I, I was off yesterday.

We, I was doing something with you and, uh- Mm-hmm someone told me most of the ballpark left after the hit, and it was almost like- even Giants fans were- I get it even Giants fans were hanging around, to see if it would happen.

It, yeah, that would've been, I mean, that's rock bottom for the season.

I, I think specific rock bottom moment is like home run was a, I guess it was bottom, top of the ninth home run to left center, and as the camera's panning out, or, no, not the home run, the Daulton Varsho play, in the eighth.

Oh, yeah.

As the camera's panning out, you can see on the scoreboard Tyler Rogers is warming up.

And it's like, okay, like so Tyler Rogers, who's remains a perfect fit for this Giants team that is 16 games under .500 in large part because of their bullpen, is warming up just in case, you know, guy runs into a pitch count issue during his no-hit attempt and he might be part of a combined.

Like it, you know, if Dylan Cease, he's like a few pitches away I think from Rogers- Yeah trying to get a combined no-no.

so it was, that to me was like the specific low point of the season.

I believe he was warming up as those balls were rocketing out to left center as well.

Yep.

in the top of the ninth.

So that was, yeah.

I mean, we had said on this podcast that, you know, it's easy to say rock bottom when they haven't been no-hit yet, they haven't been hidden ball tricked yet.

There's a lot of bottoms left to go, and then here we are t- a week, two weeks later and they come awful close.

But hey, Elliot Ramos got them out of it.

you know, it's, it, I, I was excited for it, and you know, he got a huge standing ovation, round of applause, Dylan Cease did when he got pulled out of the game.

Tyler Rogers came in.

But I know you don't like to, to dive into the being the fan part, but at some point during a no-hit or perfect game bid against your team, I feel like most fans do come around to wanting to see it.

Oh, yeah, no.

I, I was pissed that I wasn't there.

I, I was, you know, you and I were doing something, and actually one of our promotions guys can vouch for this.

I had my stuff with me and he was like, "Are you going to the game afterwards?"

And I'm like, "I, I don't know if I'm gonna be able to make it," but you know, I don't like to miss Logan starts because he's, he's, come close a couple times- Mm-hmm over the last couple years to, to no-hitters.

And I texted people late in the game, like I was like half right that I- Yeah felt like I should go to this game.

Uh- We had the energy in the air had the energy in the air, the wrong side.

yeah, it w- I, I think that it's gonna be hard to top that.

Like they, they might end up like 23 games under or whatever.

It's gonna be hard to top, almost getting no-hit at home by, you know, what has been not a very good team.

Yeah.

and a team that you crushed the first night of the series and then just totally, as the Giants do, they, I think they have eight double digit scoring games this year and they've lost the next day five times.

They just are allergic to, uh- momentum.

Um- Think of that hangover.

Yeah.

It, it reminded me a lot of 2013, which I think is a quote you and I reference a lot.

and a lot of Giants people probably do without even knowing it.

But when they got no-hit by Homer Bailey in, in 2013 and it's like a horrible title defense and, they were in Cincinnati and I, I pulled up my game story and Bruce Bro- Bruce Bochy said, "Hopefully this is rock bottom.

You hope this is as low as it gets."

And what stood out to me was also in that game story I wrote they're five under for the first time since like 2009, whatever it was.

Like it- Wow they were five under.

Not, this is- Five under seems so quaint- seen under so adorable.

You'd kill for five under right now.

Incredible.

Literally.

So, this is, it's a reminder there's like different levels of losing the last few years than even, even what, what they dealt with during some of those supposed down years, a decade ago or before.

Yeah.

And then let's not forget that Dylan Cease was a free agent not that long ago after his, his stint with the Padres.

I don't remember, did we tie him to the Giants at all in 2025?

No.

I think I put him on the list of, they are absolutely not gonna sign this guy.

They, they don't believe in it.

they're not, uh- They just were never gonna- Yeah never gonna be close on that one.

So.

Yeah.

No, fair call.

He, he, he got a lot of money, and I think at the time we even talked about how we didn't love that contract.

Yeah.

And there's a lot of money left on that deal, but also, like, hey, he's really good this year, and- Yeah, and they, the team has had historic success.

Yeah.

Pretty close to, to winning it all.

Yeah.

I mean, they'll, you know, if, if he's in the postseason this year for them pitching a wild card game, like, they, they won't really care that he has 180 million left on that deal or whatever.

Exactly.

All right, if we're talking pitching, let's pop around to a few other starting pitchers.

We saw our old friend Kevin Gausman, which was the one pitcher the Giants were able to tag with a loss.

They piled on him for early runs.

and then Logan Webb, another rough outing, just getting kind of, like, singled to death followed by a home run on, on Wednesday morning in the first inning.

He was pretty strong after that.

But, I, I'm, I'm ready for him to right his ship and get back to June Logan Webb.

Yeah, 72 miles per hour, 65 miles per hour, 71 miles per hour, and then grand slam that Look, a grand slam is a grand slam, but that, that's a home run in two ballparks.

Yeah.

That's, that's pretty There was a lot of Logan conversation online last night.

you have to also, like, I think you have to be fair to guys in terms of, like, he, he There weren't rockets all over the ballpark, so.

Yeah.

it is weird to say, like, five runs, that's a tough five runs to give up.

That, that actually is a tough five runs to give up.

And there are other times where Logan gives up 11 hits in four innings to the Padres and you're like, "They had him that night."

Mm-hmm.

But this was, like, literally bloop, bloop, bloop, grand slam, and then he was good the rest of the way.

So I, I, I don't make much of his outing.

I think he was It's, it happens to pitchers sometimes.

Yeah, especially for, like, a contact pitcher like Logan Webb.

Yeah.

Those aren't necessarily the kind of, outings you can avoid.

So obviously extra rough seeing what the guy did on the other side.

But, hey, All-Star break's around the corner.

Let's, let's, let's come out fresh in the second half of July.

He's going to Philly, so he'll, uh- That's right thankfully get away from him.

That's right.

also on the mound, Trevor McDonald gets absolutely rocked on Tuesday.

just rough overall.

There's not a ton of silver linings from this, this series once you get past that Gausman game.

Yeah.

Trevor's was a little bit different in that it was the 11 hits and, 2 1/3, which has been done twice in franchise history.

Incredibly once by Gaylord Perry, who's in the Hall of Fame, and- All right on- once by Mark Gardner, who was, like, you know, at, had some solid, some solid times.

so it's, it's a pretty rare, rare pitching line.

we'll see what they do.

I, there's some rotation things coming this week.

Carson Whisenhunt's in San Francisco.

Um- Potentially seems like he will start by the time most people listen to this.

Might be lined up to start Thursday.

they do have to watch Rup and McDonald.

I mean, they, they do have to be careful with their innings too and, and- Mm-hmm you know, going into the All-Star break, good opportunity to get Whisenhunt in the mix.

And, I, I think the interesting one, and I asked Tony about this after Tuesday's game, was just where do you go with Houser, who first Giants reliever in, since like 1970-something to throw five plus no-hit innings.

And this is the second time we've seen him come out of the bullpen as a bolt guy and pitch pretty well, which, these are accidental openers.

Mm-hmm.

But I'll, I've gotten a lot of things wrong this season.

I'll raise my hand on, 100% Giants should have tried an opener in front of Adrian Houser before just straight moving him to the bullpen.

but I, I am curious.

This kind of goes back to the Tyler Maile conversation you and I had had before where kind of got thrown back in the rotation at some point.

Absolutely.

Because if he gets hot for a couple weeks, it's actually not that hard to shop him around.

So.

Yeah.

They should Honestly, I wish for the past few weeks they had been really strategically lining his starts up against the weakest offense to just kind of pad those numbers superficially.

Well, it, you know, he goes out there against a team that just gets 11 hits and then gives up zero.

Yeah.

So.

True.

there, this is a guy who's been around a long time.

And e- even though that contract looks bad, he's had some good stretches in the big leagues just as a starter or as a swing man, and everyone needs pitching in July.

And I, I, I think we always have to remember, like, he reminded me a little bit of Drew Pomeranz, which is a bit of a different case, but Drew also really struggling as a starter.

They did have the conversation with Drew about using an opener with him and then just straight up moved him to the bullpen.

Mm-hmm.

And he's a lefty.

Velocity ticks up and they're like, "Okay.

Well, now he's a pretty good trade candidate."

Yeah.

and it happened really quickly.

It was, like, two weeks that he became, like, a trade candidate.

so this would be different.

Drew obviously is a hard throwing lefty as a reliever is, is a different case.

But this reminds me a bit of that.

And I've also been reminded a few times as I've gone back through my notes the last week that they signed Trevor Rosenthal and he never pitched for them, and they traded him, like, nine days later.

So- Yeah pitching at the deadline, you can always trade pitching at the deadline.

Yeah.

so I, I'm curious to see what they do the rest of this week and then kind of the two weeks coming out of the rotation, 'cause they really need to put some guys in a position where they s- can succeed and they can go, "Okay, we're..." And this, look, they have all the in-house.

I mean, Whisenhunt's We want to see Whisenhunt.

Mm-hmm.

I think we want to see Tidwell again.

You have Bivens back now where everyone's like, "He could've been here the whole time."

So they have plenty of guys who can come up and fill these spots in the second half.

Yeah.

You mentioning the Drew Pomeranz trade takes me to our next segment, which is a special remembering some guys.

What I did, I went ahead and put together a list of all the trade deadline selling- acquisitions.

Not the guys they got 'cause they were buying.

The guys they got 'cause they were selling.

Kinda wanted to check in on where they are now, how did that pan out.

And if I'm being honest, looking at this list in its entirety doesn't give me super high, excitement for selling some, talented players for, for a potential futser, bu- future.

But we'll go through it.

I, put together names from 2017, 2019, and 2022. last year is so recent I don't think we need any major updates on those guys.

but 2017, they traded Matt Moore to the Texas Rangers, another ninth inning no-hitter guy.

Got back Sam Wolff.

Briefly got to triple-A Sacramento.

Retired a few years ago, and is currently working a non-baseball job in South Dakota.

I'm always interested to see these non-baseball gigs the, retired players end up landing.

And then Israel Cruz got to low A ball and retired around the same time in 2022.

So not a, not a real, impactful return at the end of the day for Matt Moore.

Yeah.

He also was, pretty bad after that.

Yeah, he was.

So lose-lose either way.

Yeah.

That did in, 2016 for a few months that looked like it'd work out, and then after that it was like- Yeah oops, this guy.

Still bouncing around, though.

Eduardo Nunez was another '20, '17 deal.

Got sent to Boston for Gregory Santos, who is on his second stint with the Giants now.

And for Shaun Anderson, who, I don't know, for there was a minute where I thought Shaun Anderson was gonna be a guy.

but then they flipped him for Lawat- Lamont Wade Jr., who did become a guy.

Remember when Shaun Anderson hit a double and he was standing on second base, like, cheering?

And we're like, "Is this the next, like-" The next Bumgarner.

This massive dude- Yeah with long hair.

Absolutely.

Shaun Anderson's still bouncing around as well.

Gregory Santos is now a free agent.

Giants quietly snuck him through waivers and- Got it so that second run did not turn into anything.

Into an L. Disappointing.

So I would say through the Lamont Wade Jr. element of this, though, they did get some of that.

Oh, yeah.

A good amount of value and a good Giant out of this one.

Wade is a huge win.

Yeah.

Yes.

2019, let's start with Drew Pomeranz, who you already mentioned, and Ray Black to the Brewers.

This was one that did pan out, getting back Mauricio Dubn, who had a great Giants story and some fantastic Giants moments.

disappointing that they dealt him, but they were in a tough spot where they had to choose between two guys.

We've gone over this one a thousand times.

and obviously we just saw him as he's currently with the Braves.

Has since racked up a World Series trophy, multiple gl- Gold Gloves, and is having himself a great career.

Dubn's turned into a good player, and he's a good example of, like I, I think they need to really search for pitching in the next month, obviously.

but he's a good example of kinda what they're missing in their system right now.

Mm-hmm.

Which is he was basically big league ready when they got him, and it was You know, took him a little bit, but they don't They're missing that group of guys, like.

So I'm curious if they, if they pull back a little bit and just go, "Hey, we, every- everyone we need to get for the most part probably needs to be a pitcher.

And also probably everyone we need to get needs to be like double A, triple A level and a little bit older-" Yeah so they can help the next couple years until, you know, Gonzalez and Hernandez and Wel and all these guys are here.

Yeah.

also 2019, they managed to somehow deal Mark Melanson, getting back Dan Winkler, who retired a few years ago.

And according to his Instagram, just attended his first post-retirement MLB game this past week.

Oh.

So good for you.

That's gotta be a fun experience as a former big leaguer, or as a former, former ma- a former baseball player I guess.

Not big leaguer.

and then Tristan Beck was part of that Mark Melanson deal.

Who's had a great Giants career.

Did not think I was getting Dan Winkler updates on Giants talk today.

Yeah.

Hey, go ahead.

We'll follow up.

But deep, we dig deep.

Yeah, that was a I mean, that was a really good trade just 'cause they got out from some money.

Yeah.

Nobody thought they'd ever be able to trade Mark Melanson, so.

Yeah.

They did.

Not only got out for some money, but, like, that was one of those guys I was not unhappy to see go.

That, I think that was one of Farhan's best moves.

Yes.

Think so.

I'll trade him, and I'm also gonna get a couple young pitchers back.

Yeah.

Incredible.

He had some good swindles.

then again 2019, Sam Dyson to the Twins for a trio of strong players.

Jalen Davis had some great moments.

currently now with the Rockies as a player development coach.

I don't know how that one slipped, slipped through the cracks for me in remembering some guys.

Rolando Aroa and Kai-Wei Tang, who's having himself a nice little year last I checked.

But I think that has fallen apart a little bit.

Yeah.

A, a disappointing what happened with this return.

Like, two pitchers who could have been pretty good.

Like, they have the stuff to be pretty good, just never got there.

Mm-hmm.

Aroa's had the injuries.

We've talked about him a fair amount over the years just 'cause he looked like that was a horrible trade when they got rid of him, and just hasn't, hasn't quite gotten there.

but Sam Dyson, I don't think he ever pitched again after that.

Or didn't pitch many times, and he had some legal issues and- Yeah, and a lot of, a lot went sideways with Sam Dyson.

Yeah, so.

Glad we don't have to think back on him as a Giant.

Yeah.

He's a That was a good trade.

Yeah.

Another good trade.

Let's jump ahead one more year to 2022 with Darren Ruff getting traded to the Mets.

This got back JD Davis, who also had a nice little Giants career, and is currently playing independent league ball in Kansas City.

Thomas Zapucki, Carson Seymour, and Nick Zwalch, those, last two who are still in the Giants system.

Still hanging around.

Darren Ruff trade, obvious win for, for Farhan and the Giants.

Yeah.

Just the J- the JD Davis aspect of it, was huge.

And I, I think this is I don't know if you did this on purpose.

I think you chose some good deadlines in terms of what we have ahead of us.

Because '22, remember they also traded Curt Casali and Matt Boyd just- Mm-hmm like random- like at the end.

And I, I do think we're gonna see some of that.

there's gonna be like much bigger conversation, and certainly like whatever Arias deal happens is gonna be a big deal nationally.

I do think we're probably also gonna see some of like couple relievers.

You know?

Mm-hmm.

Maybe, maybe Malleor or Houser.

these smaller deals, where you're getting some guys back.

You hope they're good, but it's just mostly like '22 where they just were like, "Okay, it, the season's over," and, um- Yeah.

Fresh starts time to get some guys out of here, save a little bit of money, give them some fresh starts.

I think Casali and Boyd end up going to the postseason.

Mm-hmm.

With the Mariners.

Nothing ever came of that in terms of a return, but, cleared some spots for other guys.

So, that's probably part of the right move here too in addition to the big stuff is just like, is there a couple guys from the bullpen who you just, you trade somewhere.

You, you hope you get something back for them, and, you replace them with guys internally who maybe have a better shot of helping you next year.

Yeah.

Yeah, I mean, this certainly isn't one of those Giants deadlines where it's like, well, they're meandering around 500, and they should just trade their one big ace pitcher.

We've had a few of those where they ended up not pulling the trigger.

But this is much- Yeah more of a not much to salvage here.

Let's see what we can get.

I mean, I think you could trade like five or six guys and, and maybe like mostly not be big deals.

And- Mm-hmm and just, yeah.

Just see.

Add some depth to your farm system and, and open some spots for, for guys who The second half, August, September, really needs to be a bit of an audition for '27.

Yeah.

Some of those spots need to be opened up.

Well, the starter gun for, for the flurry section of the trade deadline will happen not long after the All-Star game, so we'll be talking a lot more about trades throughout the month of July.

One more unrelated remembering of some guys.

Let's give a shout-out to Justin Verlander, who has announced this is his final year of professional baseball.

did not quite make it to that fabled 300 win total that there was so much discussion about when he was a Giant.

and that also means, I think he's far enough from that total that the Giants do not get to be blamed Yeah for robbing him of, what?

A dozen wins?

Whew.

It A lot.

Oh, man.

Four and 11 what.

You know, we, we would We, we burned this one.

Like we, we talked about this way too often, but it did seem like they legitimately, like for a while, cost him a shot at, at 300 realistically.

Yeah.

Like when you Especially when you saw the way he pitched in the second half, and you, you know what happened in the first half.

Like felt like they cost him a shot.

I, I, I wanna tell a quick Verlander story.

I don't think he would mind me telling this now.

he had a baby last year, and I went up to Sacramento to see Bryce Eldridge, to interview Bryce.

It's like 105 degrees.

and I look out there and I'm like, "That looks like Justin Verlander throwing a bullpen session."

And I think he came home from a road trip because he just had the baby.

Mm-hmm.

He wasn't gonna pitch in the next city.

And he drove up to Sacramento in the middle of that and threw a bullpen session with all the track men, Edgartronic, all that.

coaches.

Full jersey.

Fully, full Giants gear.

Full bullpen session.

It was 105, in the middle of the day.

And then drove back.

And I just remember thinking, like he doesn't have to Nobody would've blamed Justin Verlander if he just went to the ballpark to play catch.

Yeah.

Or like just have a lighter bullpen session or went down to San Jose.

and I asked him afterwards, and he's like, "Well, I need to do the full prep for my next start.

And like need to work on some things."

And I do think he actually found some things in that bullpen session that helped him in the second half.

But it was a good It showed me why he is Justin Verlander.

Mm-hmm.

because he didn't take the like I, I can do whatever I want.

I'm Justin Verlander.

I'm, I'm You know, this team's not very good.

I'm this deep into my career.

I'm going to the Hall of Fame.

Like I could, I could just be at home right now with, with the new baby.

Or I could just go play catch at the ballpark.

Or you know, sometimes guys go like play catch at a park or something.

Yeah.

Like literally just go play catch at a park with a friend if they're in that type of situation.

But he drove a couple hours and, did full, full jersey in the heat.

And I just It was a good example of the way he has approached his entire career and, and, yeah.

I, I was really impressed just watching him go through that.

And it's an empty ballpark, and this guy's out there grunting and trying to throw 99.

And, um- In the Sacramento heat.

Yeah.

I mean, he, he lived up to every- everything you would expect of someone who's been that good and that respected around the game.

Like covering him last year, he, he lived up to every bit of that.

So I was really impressed just watching him for a year and the way he went about things.

Um- Yeah and the way he I- I remember watching him after one game sitting with Birdsong for like an hour after a start and trying to help him through things.

And- That's exactly what I was gonna say, is I think some of my biggest Verlander memories were him holding court with the young pitchers.

Yeah.

whether it was one guy or just being surrounded by folding chairs in the bullpen.

Talking stories, talking mechanics.

Just being like this great mentor to have in the clubhouse for a team that honestly had a lot of young pitching talent- Yeah on it.

And I have to imagine those guys benefited immensely from that presence.

He was around a ton.

so you know, sometimes we get guys in here who have been other places and have been famous elsewhere, and they're not the easiest to deal with while they're here.

he was unbelievable.

He was great with the media.

He was, he was great with everybody behind the scenes.

So, wish him the best, and I, I hope he I, I hope He's injured right now.

I do hope there's like a last chapter to this story.

Yeah where he gets back on the mound.

And Detroit, I think, is like four and a half out of a playoff spot.

So it'd be pretty cool if he got to just, you know, let it all, air it all out for a couple months here knowing you have no more pitches left after this.

Hat- hats off to Justin Verlander.

all right, we've got mailbag questions.

We've got a quick preview of Giants versus Rockies, and of course we have to get to you and Kylan's interview with Buster Posey.

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All right, Alex, our first tr- mailbag question of the day is from Josh.

Josh says, "With media outlets beginning to talk about Devers being in trade discussions, I was curious why superstar hitter for superstar pitcher trades are not more common in the MLB.

Are there any big pitcher contracts that would fit in a Devers trade, either reliefs or starters?"

It's a great question.

I think generally when you see superstars get traded, the team's in a position where they want three or four start, you know, prospects.

Um- Mm-hmm that's most of what you see in baseball.

There just aren't a lot of like You know, it's not like, some other sports where maybe you have to line up salary and things like that.

So it's- Yeah.

Also, if, if you're in a position where you need to trade your superstar, it's usually because you're selling.

It's not like- Not great, yeah "Oh, we're one pitcher away from going to the playoffs."

Well- Yeah all of a sudden you're down your biggest batter then too, and the whole playoff discussion's changed.

Yeah.

It's usually not great.

I've looked through some of the biggest pitcher contracts.

I only found two that really would even maybe work here.

One is just bad.

Aaron Nola has been bad in Philadelphia.

He's 33 years old.

there's four years left on what at the time was 172 million.

So I, you know, you could I, that feels like a step backwards even with the awkward fit of Devers.

This one I think is somewhat interesting.

Corbin Burnes, who we've, you know, has been connected to the Giants, they were interested in him.

Mm-hmm.

He has $140 million left on his deal.

He had Tommy John.

He's hasn't, you know, contributed in Arizona.

I think he's gonna be back in September of this year.

Like, he, that one was a little bit interesting to me because he's actually on paper like probably makes a ton of sense for both sides.

Like- Yeah they don't really have a first baseman there in Arizona.

I think Devers would make that one of the best lineups in baseball.

they also have some pitching issues there, so they probably want Corbin Burnes there too, and also would be an in-division tr- trade.

So that's really like- An in- that's really intriguing, but mega trade like this would be fascinating to see.

Yeah.

Well, he's a St. Mary's guy, right?

He is.

So just in terms of like if you actually did something like this, that's probably the closest I could find, but I also think that's not gonna happen.

Like, or- Yeah not even.

Would, probably reasons for both sides where they'd be like, "That makes sense," but also like, "Eh, that's Don't love that."

So.

Yeah, yeah.

Devers just hitting in the heat for, uh- Oh, man just preying on the Giants for the next few years.

Mart, Perdomo, Carroll, Devers.

Ooh.

That would be- That is interesting a good lineup.

That is interesting.

All right.

Next question is from Sean.

Sean says, "You mention often the Arias trade that has to happen.

I don't disagree, and I always agreed Schmidt should get the first shot at second base.

But is there a world where they trade Schmidt instead?

Arias just seems perfect for what they want and need, and also is fun to watch.

Although I'm talking myself out of this as I type it."

Yeah.

there's a world.

I'm sure they'll get some calls on Casey from teams especially that are like, "Hey, he could play third base for us."

I still don't think it makes sense to keep Arias.

there's a lot of reasons.

Arias, whether they keep him or not, every team's gonna be on Arias watch this off season.

Like, it's not automatic.

They don't trade him, they will have first cra- you know, that he's guaranteed- Yeah.

He's a free agent to resign here as a Giant.

But even if you resign him, there's probably, I don't know, at least like a 12, $13 million difference between those two next year.

Mm-hmm.

And that is a pitcher.

That's, that's a Tyler Rogers average annual value.

Like, so- Yeah they need to clear the spot.

They need to clear some salary.

They need to be better set up for the future.

But yeah, that's, that's where we stand on Arias.

It'll be really interesting to see this off season what types of deals Arias fields or gets offered, 'cause I'm curious if he's looking at some very long term kinda situation.

I see a lot of proposals from listeners that are like, "Can't they just get him for two more years if he's not okay-" Yeah "with coming back for one?"

I get the impression that this deal's gonna have like six or seven on it.

I think he's very well liked by a lot of people around the game, and the fact that he figured out second base, like- Mm-hmm is really gonna help.

You know, he, he had a good reputation anyway, and people like him, and he's a good clubhouse guy.

So there's a lot of reasons to like him other than the defense coming into this year, and now the defense is fixed.

And not just fixed, like Gold Glove level.

So- Exactly he's gonna do well.

next question is from Brandon.