© Ron Chenoy | 2019 Jul 17
The Giants suddenly find themselves in an interesting situation. Considered arguably the worst team in the National League at the All-Star break, San Francisco has improbably looked like a different team over the past few weeks, winning 12 of their last 14 games, including an improbable sweep at Coors Field.
Now San Francisco is 2.5 games out of the final Wild Card spot, and the question of whether or not they should buy or sell is actually something to consider. Interestingly, the team’s recent success has only elevated the value of a number of their pieces, most notably Madison Bumgarner and Will Smith.
For that reason, and because the Giants still have a five percent chance of making the postseason according to 538, that ESPN MLB reporter Jeff Passan believes there is no question that they’ll sell.
“San Francisco’s recent success isn’t throwing a wrench in the team’s trade-Bumgarner-and-all-the-relievers plan,” Passan wrote Wednesday morning. “Even with their best run of the year, the Giants are three games below .500 and have the third-worst run differential in the NL. They are selling. One more time, a bit slower. They. Are. Selling.”
The Giants apparently already tried to move Bumgarner a month ago, but were unsatisfied with the offers. Now, it is likely they will wait until close to the July 31 deadline according to Passan.
“The Giants tried to jump the deadline on a Bumgarner deal a month ago. When nothing substantive came of that, they resolved to wait — and interested teams believe that waiting will continue until close to July 31. Everyone knows what Bumgarner is. The actual prices they’re willing to pay won’t reveal themselves until the clock starts ticking louder.”
If the Giants do indeed sell, it will be interesting to see (a) how the clubhouse reacts to Farhan Zaidi, who many veterans already seem skeptical of, breaking up a team that seems to believe they can make some noise, and (b) if they can continue this streak without both players. The second scenario seems unlikely, but then again, so did the idea we’d even be having this conversation two weeks ago.
