In the end, the San Francisco Giants were sellers, but they didn't sell their top assets. The Giants traded Darin Ruf to the Mets in a deal that brought back J.D. Davis and three minor leaguers. They traded Curt Casali and Matt Boyd to the Seattle Mariners. And the Giants traded Trevor Rosenthal, just signed less than two weeks ago, to the Milwaukee Brewers. The SF Giants held onto Carlos Rodón and Joc Pederson.
The Ruf trade was the most significant move the Giants made. The team was so enamored with Ruf that they gave him a two-year extension prior to the season, with a club option for a third year. But his performance fell off in 2022, especially when thrust into more of an everyday role, and he became expendable. J.D. Davis is a similar player in a lot of ways, another DH type, but he doesn't have big platoon splits and is above-average at the plate against lefties or righties. He can play third, left, and first, none particularly well.
Rodón not being dealt probably just means that the offers weren't good enough. He was pretty clearly available, but the Giants needed to be compelled to give up on their season and give up the potential draft pick compensation they'd receive if he rejects the qualifying offer and signs elsewhere. Other top rental options such as Willson Contreras and J.D. Martinez were also surprisingly held onto.
Meanwhile, the San Diego Padres acquired Juan Soto. It's a brutal outcome from the perspective of Giants fans, who've seen a serious influx of star power into the NL West in recent years—none of it with the Giants and all of it with the Dodgers and now Padres. San Diego gave up a haul to get Soto (they also acquired Josh Bell in the same deal and Brandon Drury in a separate one), but the NL West just got that much better.
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The best daily San Francisco Giants podcast. Whether the Giants are winning championships or retooling for another title run, Locked On Giants host Ben Kaspick—a lifelong Giants fan and former contributor for RotoGraphs and Beyond the Box Score—breaks down every game, rumor, and transaction in a way that's data-driven and rational but also simple, passionate, and accessible to all.
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