Kurtenbach

The Giants could have made a splash in any number of directions this trade deadline. They had the farm system and the money to make any deal they wanted.

But with my apologies to Max Scherzer and Trea Turner — two outstanding players who moved from Washington to the Dodgers this week — Bryant was the best fit for San Francisco.

And if we’ve learned anything about this Giants this season, it’s that fit still matters.

These Giants aren’t the most talented roster in their division. Truth be told, they’re probably in third place there. But they’re in first place in the standings because they’re a rocksolid team. Yes, a team, in baseball. Strange concept, I know.

But on the Giants, players know their roles (which can vary from inning to inning), they execute the game plan, and they fight for the team’s overall success. There’s no ego, no strife — the only thing that could even be misconstrued as controversial is Brandon Crawford’s “Let the Old Guys Play” shirt, which, of course, is totally lighthearted

ribbing.

Bryant won’t have any problem adapting. He knows how to play that kind of baseball.

As a player, Bryant is Giants president Farhan Zaidi’s exact type. He can play multiple positions (both corners of the infield and all three outfield spots), he sees a bunch of pitches at the plate, and he can “do damage” when pitchers make a mistake. He’s not the same player he was when he was named the National League MVP in 2016, but the Giants don’t need that — they just need him to be solid for the final few months of the 2021 season for this to be a good deal.

Bryant can certainly do that.

But I think he can do much more before he becomes a free agent at the end of the season.

San Francisco is catching Bryant in the middle of a hot streak. He’s posted a 1.256 OPS over the last seven games, as he’s been getting the ball up in the air more as of late — he was hitting a disproportionate and out-ofcharacter number of ground balls earlier in the year.

It might be short-lived, but it seems as if Bryant has found his old swing again. And if that’s the case, the Giants just picked up one of

the best players in baseball. We’ll see. Whatwecansayisthat Bryant is a veteran, playoff-tested bat in a lineup that needed one. The Giants’ Platoon Saloon lineup is ever-changing and will be loaded up to attack a starting pitcher, but the presence of Bryant takes stress off Wilmer Flores and Darin Ruf, who were carrying too heavy a load for this team, as well as Evan Longoria, whose return is imminent but probably shouldn’t be an everyday player with his foot issues.

The presence of Bryant means that the Giants don’t need Buster Posey’s bat in the lineup night-in, nightout. He can take a day or two — he’s been banged up like nobody’s business this season. It means that LaMonte Wade, Alex Dickerson, and Steven Duggar can be straight platoon players — a role that best suits them.

One player isn’t going to make or break this Giants lineup but Bryant’s defensive versatility and middle-of-thelineup bat give San Francisco’s Nobodies some breathing room. The pressure of being a surprise first-place team, tasked with holding off both the Dodgers and Padres had to be intense for some of these guys.

I don’t know if the Gi

ants are going to win the National League West, but I can say that San Francisco is going to make the playoffs. And whether they’re in a wild card game or a best-offive divisional series, Bryant is going to be somewhere on the field — anywhere will do — and smack dab in the middle of the lineup.

Could the Giants have improved the bullpen beyond the “meh” acquisition of Tony Watson? Of course. Would another starting pitcher have been a nice addition? Absolutely. You can never have enough when you’re in the National League West.

But with the Bryant trade, the Giants were able to dramatically improve their present-day chances without sacrificing a critical part of their bright future amid a trade market with crazy inflation. Alexander Canario — who is heading to Chicago — might be a tremendous major league outfielder, but those days are a while away yet. And while he was a top-10 prospect, he was the fourth-best outfielder in the Giants system. In short, he was expendable.

The Giants’ chance to seriously compete for a title this yearwasnot,andBryant gives them a better chance to make the most of this unforeseen opportunity.