The San Francisco Giants have a bad 31-45 record. They are facing a big fire sale before the trade deadline. Matt Chapman has a no-trade clause, which means he has the final say. The Giants are just hoping he will listen and agree to leave. With 86 games left this season, the Giants are stuck near the bottom of their division and are falling out of the playoff race. So, the team needs to rebuild right now.

This will help them get the best young players in return. Three players face realistic trade odds; two do not. The team will focus only on trading third baseman Matt Chapman, starting pitcher Robbie Ray, and second baseman Luis Arraez.

“The San Francisco Giants are hopeful of moving third baseman Matt Chapman – who is owed $100 million over the next four years and has a full no-trade clause – along with starter Robbie Ray and second baseman Luis Arraez. They’re pessimistic about the odds of trading Rafael Devers or Willy Adames with their bloated contracts,” USA Today’s Bob Nightengale shared.

Chapman is going strong this year, recording seven homers at .245, but his contract is what makes the Giants uncomfortable. He is signed to a 6-year, $151 million contract extension with the Giants, which runs through the 2030 season. He will still have $100 million left after this season. Because of his no-trade clause, the Giants cannot force him to leave. But deals like this still happen. For example, Max Scherzer waived his no-trade clause in 2023 to join the Rangers.

If Chapman agrees, the Giants can save a lot of money to invest in other names. Additionally, moving Chapman creates a permanent starting role at third base for top prospect Casey Schmitt.

For Robbie Ray, the Giants want to extract the maximum value from a pending free agent rather than save up financial space. Ray is in the final year of his $115 million deal and has posted a 4.07 ERA so far this year. So, for the Giants, it would make more sense to give him up by the deadline and extract some value. Same with Arraez. His one-year, $12 million contract means he will hit free agency after 2026. He is batting .321, which could attract a good return for the Giants.

Rafael Devers and Willy Adames are the two players who will likely stay.

The Giants still owe Adames a huge amount of money. His deal pays him around $156 million over the five years following this season, with his annual salary spiking to over $31 million per year from 2027-2031. Because his contract is so heavy, the Giants would likely need to eat a significant portion of the money to facilitate a trade.

While Adames has scored 11 homers till now, his overall run production hasn’t met the high expectations set by his massive contract. For the Giants, seeking to build up the roster from scratch, giving up these fat contracts makes the most sense. Adames also has a no-trade clause. Devers also has a huge contract. Because the Giants want to save money, they will sadly have to keep Devers and Adames for now.

It all still depends on how the Giants rebound from their current slump and if they can. Also, how the potential trade chips are attracting the suitors.

A few teams have some trade offers for the Giants’ trade chips

Among the three rumored trade chips, the biggest attraction would be Matt Chapman. A career 210 HR slugger would surely create some noise in the trade market, and the Yankees could make him a perfect fit. For the Yankees, Chapman’s veteran experience would help to keep a workload away from Aaron Judge, and that $25 million AAV shouldn’t be a tough job for the Yankees.

Now, the trade could happen only if Chapman agrees. However, earlier, Chapman said his preference was to be with a winning team. The Giants are certainly not winning, but the Yankees are. So, mutual fit could work here. In return for Chapman, the Giants could ask for top pitching prospect Chase Hampton and fast outfielder Wilson Rodriguez.

Hampton was one of the Yankees’ top-10 prospects but got sidelined with Tommy John surgery. He recently got back and is showing the potential of a mid-to-upper-90s fastball. On the other hand, Rodriguez is the South Atlantic League Player of the Week for this month. He possesses 107+ mph exit velocity and 60-grade speed.

Still, the trade looks risky for the Giants, but a ground-up rebuild means this much risk is part of the job.