San Francisco Giants Trade Deadline Plans Don't Sound Promising

The San Francisco can't make this mistake that they're rumored to do at the trade deadline.

May 22, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Blake Snell (7) delivers a pitch against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the first inning at PNC Park. / Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

The San Francisco Giants have been playing much better baseball recently, and with multiple key players returning from injuries, this should be the start to what could be an exciting second half in the Bay Area.

2023 National League Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell returned on Wednesday night and was excellent. After posting a 9.51 ERA in his first six outings, Snell tossed 5.0 innings of one-hit baseball, allowing 0 earned runs.

If they can get him back to speed with the second half here, the Giants should comfortably find themselves in a position to make the playoffs via the Wild Card. He'll need to show that he has more than one good start in him, but this is still one of the best pitchers in baseball, and six bad starts when he was injured won't change that.

Getting Snell back to that level should only mean one thing for San Francisco.

There's no excuse for them not to be buyers at the trade deadline, perhaps even aggressive ones. The talent on this roster is clear, but there are multiple ways to improve.

However, Jim Bowden of The Athletic hinted at that not being the case. From what Bowden wrote, it sounds like the Giants might be thinking that the pitchers they're getting back from the IL are all they need.

He did talk about three star outfielders being trade targets, which is a great sign, but the pitching staff side of things brings some worries.

"The Giants are similar to Arizona in that they hope several key starting pitchers will soon come off the IL, including former Cy Young Award winner Robbie Ray, and right-handers Alex Cobb, Keaton Winn and Tristan Beck. (Blake Snell returned Tuesday with encouraging results, allowing no runs and one hit in five innings.)

"In terms of trades, the Giants have been linked with the Marlins on Jazz Chisholm Jr., the Cubs on Cody Bellinger and the White Sox on Luis Robert Jr."

San Francisco taking the approach of being winners at the deadline because they're getting pitchers back from the IL shouldn't be a thing. That doesn't mean they have to go out and add three new starting pitchers, but they should be in the mix to land one in case some of those don't work out.

Robbie Ray is the perfect example of that. Another recent Cy Young winner, earning the honor in 2021, Ray has pitched in one game since the end of the 2022 campaign.

He could certainly come back and be elite, but that's a risk that doesn't need to be taken. Hopefully, they don't view players coming off the IL as additions, but Bowden's words don't sound like that's the case.