For Buster Posey, there wasn’t a singular “ah ha” moment where the Giants devolved from buyers to sellers. It was a gradual process, every loss incrementally pushing the front office to ship players out instead of bringing them in.
They sent longtime reliever Tyler Rogers to the New York Mets on Wednesday in the midst of being swept by the Pittsburgh Pirates. At Thursday’s trade deadline, more farewells were said. Camilo Doval will also head to the East Coast, shipped to the New York Yankees for four prospects. Mike Yastrzemski is gone, too, heading to the Kansas City Royals for a pitching prospect.
The Giants, who are below .500 for the first time all year, did not think they would be here. Not after momentarily tying the Los Angeles Dodgers for first place in the NL West. Not after trading for three-time All-Star Rafael Devers. Not after going into the second half with a 52-45 record.
Yet, here they are.
“We wish we were in a spot that we were adding,” Posey said, “but as poorly as we’ve played since the All-Star break, we all felt like it was the best decision for the organization to try to get those pieces coming back that will help us in the future.”
It’s certainly possible that the eight players added in the last two days can help the team in the future.
The return for Doval was right-hander Trystan Vrieling, catcher/infielder Jesus Rodriguez, infielder Parks Harber and left-hander Carlos De La Rosa. Per MLB Pipeline, Vrieling and Rodriguez were the Yankees’ No. 19 and No. 25 prospects. For Yastrzemski, the Giants received right-hander Yunior Marte — a different Yunior Marte from the one who was part of the trade for left-hander Erik Miller.
Rogers’ return was right-handers José Buttó and Blade Tidwell and outfielder Drew Gilbert. Buttó, who has pitched in parts of four major-league seasons, will join the bullpen in Queens; Tidwell made his debut earlier this season and could toss some innings.
Of all the players the Giants acquired, Posey made it a point to highlight the the 23-year-old Rodriguez, who has played catcher, first base, second base, third base and left field in the minors.
“All he’s done is hit,” Posey said of Rodriguez. “He’s been a player, listening to our pro scouting department talk about him, that’s kind of come onto the scene a little bit later. He’s never really been a famous guy. He’s a .308 hitter in the minor leagues. You watch his swing, he sprays the ball all over the field. “We’re happy — excited about him.”
For all Posey’s excitement about Rodriguez and company, the front office’s immediate focus a month ago was not on the future. It was on the present, and it was on winning now.
Then the team dropped 12 of its last 14 games. Then the Giants lost six straight — first falling to .500, then falling below it. Then they fell six games back of the final NL Wild Card spot to the San Diego Padres, who bolstered their roster by adding a bevy of players headlined by All-Stars Mason Miller and Ryan O’Hearn.
Posey, who’s been through his share of lows, had no explanation as to what’s gone on the last several weeks.
“We all wish we had something we could concretely point to,” Posey said. “It’s just a really rough stretch. … Again, we wish we weren’t in this spot and we were adding at this point.”
The Giants, as bad as they have been, have not been mathematically eliminated.
Beginning on Friday, they have 53 games remaining in the regular season. Yastrzemski, when speaking to reporters on Wednesday, noted “crazier things have happened.” When asked if he believes this team can still compete, Posey told reporters that “nothing’s ever out of the question there.”
“We’ve got to play better baseball — plain and simple,” Posey said. “We just haven’t looked like the same team as we did at the beginning of the year. I felt like at the beginning of the year, we harped on doing the little things right. It was clean baseball. We’ve kind of taken a 180. So, we’ve somehow got to recapture that form, that style of baseball that we had at the beginning of the season.
“Losing a guy like Rog, like Doval, like Yaz, these are veteran players that do impact your team. But we still feel like we’ve got a group that should go out there and perform much better than they have the last month or so.”
Those three players — Rogers, Doval, Yastrzemski — were among the select few on the Giants’ roster who Posey once called his teammates.
Doval, 28, spent his entire professional career with the Giants dating back to when he signed with the team as an international free agent in October 2015. Over five seasons, Doval had a 3.29 ERA and totaled 107 saves, the seventh-most in Giants history.
Yastrzemski, 34, spent six years in the Baltimore Orioles’ farm system before being traded to the Giants in March 2019. Despite making his debut at 28, Yastrzemski established himself as a mainstay in San Francisco’s outfield and played 790 games over seven major-league seasons. During that time, he hit 114 home runs and posted a .768 OPS.
Now, two-time All-Star Logan Webb and designated hitter Wilmer Flores are the only two players remaining on the roster who played alongside Posey. The Giants also designated first baseman LaMonte Wade Jr. for assignment back in June before trading him to the Los Angeles Angels.
Rogers and Yastrzemski could rejoin the Giants in the offseason, but Posey could not comment on that possibility because they’re now on different teams.
“I knew when I took this job, one of the harder parts was going to be, at some point, moving on from guys that I had a personal relationship with and I played with,” Posey said. “That’s not an easy phone call or conversation to have in person, but overall, I think (general manager) Zach (Minasian), myself and the rest of the group are happy with the players that we have coming to putting on a Giants uniform now.”
Among those still wearing a Giants uniform are Flores, Justin Verlander and Dominic Smith, all of whom are set to become free agents this offseason. Before Verlander signed, he and Posey talked about what Verlander might want to do at the deadline. That said, Posey said he did not approach the future Hall of Famer about being traded.
Two-time All-Star Robbie Ray, who is owed $25 million next season, remains a Giant as well. Posey said the team fielded calls but would’ve needed to have been “blown out of the water” to make a deal.
With Doval, Rogers and Yastrzemski gone, the Giants have three roles to fill: closer, setup man and starting right fielder. Minasian said the team wants manager Bob Melvin to dictate those spots, but All-Star Randy Rodríguez stands to inherit that role. Ryan Walker, who entered the season as the closer, is also a possibility.
As far as right field, Luis Matos will likely receive extended playing time with Yastrzemski’s departure. It’s possible that Grant McCray and Marco Luciano, who transitioned from infield to outfield this offseason, see time in right over the next two months as well.
Regarding Bryce Eldridge, Posey downplayed the possibility of him making his debut this season after he missed several weeks due to a hamstring injury. Eldridge, the team’s top prospect, is unquestionably a foundational piece of this team’s future.
A future this team hopes is brighter than its present.
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