San Francisco Giants Veteran Slugger Seen as Trade Fit for AL West Team

An MLB expert has suggested an AL West team could be a trade fit for a San Francisco Giants veteran hitter.

Sep 3, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants right fielder Mike Yastrzemski (5) gestures as he runs the bases after hitting a solo home run against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the eighth inning at Oracle Park. / John Hefti-Imagn Images

Being under new management, the San Francisco Giants are a team that everyone in baseball will be watching this offseason.

Buster Posey is taking over as president of baseball operations from Farhan Zaidi, who was relieved of his duties after the 2024 campaign. How things will differ with the front office changes is anyone’s guess.

He is inheriting a team that has a few clear areas of need heading into the winter. There aren’t many players who are locked into prominent roles in the lineup.

Matt Chapman will be handling third base. Patrick Bailey is the catcher. Tyler Fitzgerald will be somewhere, either shortstop or second base. Heliot Ramos will be patrolling one outfield spot and the team hopes Jung Hoo Lee will be healthy next season.

One of the players whose future is up in the air at the moment is outfielder Mike Yastrzemski.

With six years of MLB experience under his belt, he is set to hit arbitration for the final time before becoming a free agent after the 2025 season. Projections have him landing a contract worth about $9.5 million.

That isn’t an exorbitant amount of money, but the Giants do have some younger players that warrant time in the outfield. Already 34 years old, he likely isn’t in the team’s long-term plans either.

That makes him an ideal trade candidate this winter. One team that Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report believes could be a fit for him is the Seattle Mariners.

The American League West contenders need as much offense as they can find. Their pitching was truly dominant for stretches of 2024 but the offense was not able to consistently back them up.

While Yastrzemski doesn’t offer much in the way of defense or impact on the base paths, he is a pretty reliable bat from the left side. He has been consistently above average, recording a .779 OPS in his career.

Double-digit home runs have been hit in all six seasons as well, including the COVID-19-shortened 2020 campaign. His .739 OPS this past summer, the second lowest of his career, would have been in the top five for the Mariners among hitters who had at least 190 plate appearances.

At the very least, Yaztrzemski can be an above-average platoon player. He has a .809 OPS in his career against right-handed pitching with 88 home runs in 1,971 plate appearances. That kind of production is something the Mariners could use more of as they look to overcome the Houston Astros.