Former MLB Executive Questions San Francisco Giants Deadline Strategy

The San Francisco Giants had an interesting trade deadline to say the least, and one former executive certainly is questioning it.

Farhan Zaidi during the MLB general managers meeting at the Omni Scottsdale Resort / Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

With the trade deadline officially in the rearview for the San Francisco Giants, that has given analysts around the league an opportunity to look at what this front office accomplished heading into the final two months of the season.

Because the playoff race has so many teams in contention, this market naturally turned into a seller's dream, driving up the price for any of the players they were looking to offload.

It played out exactly like that, as multiple pieces were moved to contending teams in return for inflated packages despite only two total All-Stars getting moved.

Based on the Giants' position in the playoff race, many thought it would be wise for them to join the selling teams in offloading their best assets.

They did trade away some pieces, but it came in a shocking move that reunited their high-priced offseason signing Jorge Soler with the Atlanta Braves in a salary dump. They also traded away Alex Cobb before he threw a single pitch this year, even as he was scheduled to return in the coming days.

Outside of that, it was largely quiet for San Francisco.

Mark Canha was acquired in a deal with the Detroit Tigers that was just as head-scratching as their decision to trade way certain pieces, and hold onto others.

This has prompted former MLB general manager Jim Bowden to question what San Francisco did before the deadline, giving them a D grade in his piece for The Athletic.

"... they didn't do much to improve their chances of making the playoffs this year ... They listened on Blake Snell, but that's all they did. They now have to hope that Snell and Robbie Ray can perform like the Cy Young Award winners they've been in the past, and along with the rest of the staff, just try to pitch themselves to the postseason. I just question if this offense is good enough to get them there," he writes.

That seems to be the consensus sentiment around the league.

The Giants clearly feel like they can contend for a spot in the playoffs with their pitching staff finally healthy and performing to a high level

Is it a case of too little, too late at this point in time, though?

That could very much be the case.

If San Francisco fails to make the playoffs, they might look back on their strategy in dismay as this was a massive opportunity to get some pieces back in return they otherwise wouldn't have.

Holding onto Snell could also be costly if he opts-out of his contract and hits free agency after the year since there were so many teams interested in acquiring him for their playoff push.