San Francisco Giants Refused To Trade Top Prospect In Pursuit Of Stars

The San Francisco Giants were in on negotiations for some of the top stars on the trade market, but they refused to deal their prized prospect.

Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The San Francisco Giants were aggressive, but not too aggressive, in pursuing talented players in the trade market in order to accelerate the rebuild and improve the current roster, according to a recent report.

With players like former Houston Astros star outfielder Kyle Tucker traded to the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox ace Garrett Crochet traded to the Boston Red Sox, stars were available not just in free agency but on the trade block as well.

Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic reported the Giants were in on both stars and not only were interested, but made very real offers.

In both pursuits however, the Astros and White Sox wanted top prospect Bryce Eldridge included, a request which San Francisco firmly denied. The Tucker deal saw the Cubs part with one of their top prospects in Cam Smith and more and the Crochet deal netted the White Sox Kyle Teel and three more prospects from Boston.

But nobody who was traded has anywhere near the ceiling that Eldridge has. The first baseman of the future for the Giants, Eldridge is seen as the type of player who could be a 30 home run, 100 RBI player from the moment he steps foot in the big leagues, something that could happen as soon as during the 2025 season.

Both the Red Sox and the Cubs also have farm systems that are among the best in baseball and had the prospects required to land a star to spare, and while losing Blue Chip type guys is never ideal, the other talent in their respective systems would be able to make up for it.

Eldridge, meanwhile, headlines a farm system that is nowhere near the top of the list and without him, turns into one of the worst in the entire MLB.

Keeping a solid farm system is not necessarily a great reason not to make a big trade especially when a star who will make a huge impact immediately becomes available, but Eldridge is a different situation in that the ceiling he has is maybe unlike anyone San Francisco has had in the organization in the last decade.

Eldridge isn't just a massive part of the Giants future plans. He's the future face of the franchise and poised to be the key in getting back to championship contention. Trading him simply is not an option, and according to the report, San Francisco knows that better than anyone.