Giants looking to be buyers at the trading deadline

For the first time since 2016, the San Francisco Giants are in the position of being a buyer instead of a seller at the trade deadline.

The 2021 Giants have baseball’s best record at the end of July. Friday is the trade deadline and the Giants will be looking to bring in players that can help impact their playoff run.

What will the Giants add and at what price are they willing to pay to get a power hitting left fielder, a starting pitcher or help in the bullpen?

The answers to those questions will be made by the 1:00pm deadline tomorrow by Farhan Zaidi and his team.

Will they go after Kris Bryant and solidify their batting order with the former National League MVP? Both Bryant and Anthony Rizzo were not in the Chicago Cubs lineup on Thursday, causing speculation that both players have played their last game in the Windy City this season.

Reports have Washington agreeing to deal Max Scherzer to the San Diego Padres. With the National League All-Star starter off the board, the Giants could go after one of the two starters from the Minnesota Twins, Jose Berrios and Michael Pineda. Either one would bring an immediate impact to the Giants starting rotation, which has had its share of injuries over the course of this season.

But would either pitcher come with a steep price? Would Zaidi and company have to part ways with a Joey Bart or a Heliot Ramos in order to acquire such a talent?

“Look I think every team and every clubhouse is looking around seeing who might join you”, said Giants manager Gabe Kapler during his pre-game presser. “But I think we’re pretty focused on the players we have in this room right now."

I believe (and I could be proven wrong tomorrow) that both Bart and Ramos stay put as that would be too much to give up for a rental player of three months.

Could the Giants go after a guy like Craig Kimbrell and have a ninth inning stalwart instead of the current rotation of Tyler Rogers and Jake McGee which Kapler has had since the start of the season?

Kimbrell could also come at a steep price as the Cubs fire sale won’t come cheap.

With the guys like Brandon Belt, Evan Longoria and Tommy La Stella coming back from the injured list within the next week or two, it makes sense for the Giants to add to both their starting rotation and bullpen for the stretch run.

“Thinking about how well positioned we are as a club right now and the pieces we have in place. I think you know this, but the job of the major league manager and the major league coaching staff is to get the best out of the players that we have in the clubhouse and who will be in the dugout for us in today’s baseball game,” Kapler said.

Whatever happens tomorrow, the 2021 Giants seem poised to stay in the fight for the National League West crown with Los Angeles and San Diego and not fade down the stretch like the team did in 2016 after having the best record at the All-Star break.

The Giants series win over LA has them three games up on their SoCal rival, whom they don’t play again till Labor Day weekend. This is going to be an exciting final two months, Giants fans haven’t experienced in the past five years.