San Francisco Giants Could Find Trade Partner Within the Division

There’s no telling how this offseason will go for the San Francisco Giants, but should they decide to rebuild, they might be able to find a trade partner within the NL West.

The San Francisco Giants are entering an offseason full of the unknown. There is no visible plan in place, because they still have to fill the vacated general manager’s role. One possible plan could be rebuilding, trading away assets to build their farm system back up, with the idea that competing in 2019 is out of the realm of possibility.

If that does become the case, they could be able to find trade partners within their own division.

Colorado Rockies’ beat writer Patrick Saunders, of the Denver Post, put together a rather lengthy list of notes earlier this week. Colorado will be dealing with a difficult offseason coming off a season-ending sweep in the National League Division Series at the hands of the Milwaukee Brewers.

Within that grouping of notes, Saunders mentions that All-Star second baseman D.J. LeMahieu will be a free agent this offseason and Colorado has given “no indication” that they will attempt to re-sign him. He also talks about the Rockies’ big money bullpen and their need to improve that, particularly with a late-inning left-handed reliever.

That’s where the Giants could come in. San Francisco second baseman Joe Panik is arbitration eligible for the second time and is under team control for another season beyond this upcoming year. Panik is coming off another disappointing year for the Giants, and seems to be a change of scenery candidate. It would likely be a big help that the new scenery is Coors Field for 81 games a year.

The Giants also have a pair of excellent left-handed relievers, both of whom fit in the late-inning category. Will Smith is coming off a fantastic return to the mound after missing the entire 2017 season because of Tommy John surgery. Tony Watson emerged as one of Bruce Bochy’s most reliable bullpen arms in his first season as a Giant.

Smith will be in his last year of arbitration eligibility in 2019, and is projected to make $4.1 million through the arbitration process this year. Watson is under guaranteed contract for 2019, making $3 million next season, and has a player option for the 2020 season. Both guys would be able to help the Colorado bullpen.

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In the Rockies’ farm system, the Giants could pick from a solid group of young hitters. Getting top prospects Brendan Rodgers (an infielder currently ranked as the ninth-best prospect in baseball) and Colton Welker (third baseman ranked 94th) is most likely out of the question, but there are options further down the list that would strengthen the Giants organization.

There are some caveats to any potential trades, of course. Firstly, it’s generally never a great idea to trade within the division, in fear of those traded players hurting their former teams for 19 games a season. There’s also the fact that the Giants don’t yet have a replacement for Bobby Evans in place, and in turn, they don’t have a clear direction for the 2019 season.

If the Giants, under their new leadership, do decide that competing in 2019 isn’t as important as getting younger and building their farm system for the long-term, trading within the division wouldn’t be as difficult a decision anyway. They probably wouldn’t be a competitive team again in 2019, so getting hurt by former Giants wouldn’t be as big a deal.

But if the new head decides against selling off assets, none of this matters anyway. Trading Smith or Watson while having the idea that they can compete again in 2019 (no matter how crazy that idea may sound) would be a terrible idea. Both would be critical to the success of the bullpen, giving the team an extremely talented left-handed duo.

Either way, it is something the Giants should consider. Competing in 2019 will be a tall task, and taking a step back and grabbing some young talent seems like a good idea.