Will Zaidi fortify Giants at trade deadline?
Key players will return, but there is room to upgrade
With a 57-32 record and a realistic chance to win the National League West, Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi has spent plenty of time thinking about the trade deadline.
The Giants expect to
welcome a slew of key players including Buster Posey, Brandon Belt, Evan Longoria and Tommy La Stella back from the injured list between the All-Star break and the July 30 deadline, but Zaidi knows he may have to search for upgrades
outside the organization to fortify the roster for a stretch run.
He also knows that Giants fans expect the club to build upon their first half success well beyond August, September and October. That’s why he’s just as focused on ensuring the Giants have a chance to contend into the future as they do this season.
“We’ve got a number of guys in that situation who are in the last year of their contracts and we’re not going to talk about that publicly, but...” Zaidi said on Friday in the dugout at Oracle Park.
“With the way we’re playing, I think we’re going to be motivated to keep a lot of these guys beyond this year. We think about that as much as we think about that over the next three weeks. How do we keep this group together?”
It would have been impossible to picture back
in 2019 when Posey, Belt and Brandon Crawford all posted offensive numbers that were below the league average, but there’s now a realistic possibility that all three could remain with San Francisco past this year. A 2021 season that had the chance to be an informal farewell tour for the trio has turned into a banner year for the legacy Giants as all three have played critical roles in the team’s success.
Crawford, who ranked among the worst qualified hitters in baseball two years ago, is a legitimate MVP candidate as he’s pacing the Giants with 18 home runs, 58 RBIs and Gold Glove caliber defense. Posey, whose career seemed to be derailed by a 2018 hip surgery, has been the best two-way catcher in the majors this year. And Belt, who has been limited to just 55 games due to injuries, has posted a 138 OPS+ that’s in line with the best marks he’s finished with in a full major league season.
Belt and Crawford are both playing out the final year of contract extensions while Posey has a club option for $22 million the Giants can exercise for next season, but all have performed well enough that the front office is expected to give strong consideration to keeping the group together.
It’s too early to say what kind of commitments the Giants would have to make to keep their longest-tenured players around beyond this season, but it’s increasingly obvious that allowing any of them to depart would create a big hole to fill in the lineup and perhaps an even bigger void in the clubhouse.
For an executive such as Zaidi who highlighted the value of continuity during his tenure as the Dodgers general manager, it makes sense that building around a core that continues to lead the way for the Giants would be an increasingly appealing option.