This story was excerpted from Maria Guardado’s Giants Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
ARLINGTON -- One day after the Giants traded six players off their Major League roster as part of a dramatic Deadline sell-off, rookie first baseman Bryce Eldridge surveyed the visitors' clubhouse at Globe Life Field and found himself transported back to his days with the Sacramento River Cats, the club’s Triple-A affiliate.
“It feels like we’re playing for the San Francisco River Kitties right now,” Eldridge said Tuesday. “But the boys are having fun. We had a talk today with a bunch of the young guys, kind of reiterating, ‘This is our chance to kind of take advantage of this opportunity for us,’ but also kind of emphasize that this season we’ve had has been unacceptable for this organization’s standards and for all of our standards.”
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At 48-66, the Giants are 18 games below .500, and they’re now without All-Star second baseman Luis Arraez, starting left fielder Heliot Ramos, veteran starters Robbie Ray and Tyler Mahle and bullpen stalwarts Erik Miller and Caleb Kilian.
Most of the young players they netted in return won’t be big-league ready for a while, creating some glaring holes for the organization to fill over the final two months of the regular season.
Here are three questions that will be front of mind for San Francisco moving forward:
1. When could the Giants get their first look at Mayer?
Only two of the eight players the Giants acquired in their Deadline deals have Major League experience: shortstop Marcelo Mayer, who came over from the Red Sox in exchange for Miller, and right-hander Anthony Molina, who was obtained from the Braves in exchange for Mahle.
Both could be candidates to make their Giants debuts before the end of the year, though Mayer’s timetable is a bit uncertain since he’s currently on the 10-day injured list with a bone stress reaction in his left ulna. Mayer hasn’t played since June 25 and was due to fly to San Francisco on Wednesday to undergo an evaluation.
If he can get back to full strength, Mayer should have a chance to take over the second-base spot that was vacated by Arraez. The No. 4 overall pick of the 2021 MLB Draft, Mayer was once viewed as one of the top infield prospects in baseball, though his luster faded a bit after he struggled with injuries and underperformance over his two seasons in Boston.
A left-handed hitter, Mayer has batted .223 with a .624 OPS and seven home runs over 114 career Major League games, but the Giants believe a change of scenery could help the 23-year-old unlock his full potential.
“I could just envision him doing a lot of things based off his history,” manager Tony Vitello said. “You can get into the prospect conversation. It was in whatever elite category you want to put all those guys of his age. He hasn’t really lost steam with that. He just hasn’t had a great runway as far as staying healthy or getting consistent repetitions. It’s tough for someone to show what they can actually do until they do have that runway.”
2. Which starters will stake their claim to a spot in the 2027 rotation?
As it stands, the Giants have only two starters who they can confidently project to be part of their rotation next year: three-time All-Star Logan Webb and right-hander Landen Roupp.
Ray and Mahle are no longer with the organization, and Hayden Birdsong and Trevor McDonald are likely to spend most of the 2027 campaign rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, creating plenty of questions about how the Giants will fill out their starting staff.
San Francisco figures to use the rest of the regular season to assess its in-house options and determine whether any of its other young hurlers -- such as Blade Tidwell, Carson Whisenhunt and Carson Seymour -- can be part of the solution next year.
Adrian Houser lost his spot in the rotation after a disappointing start to the year, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Giants gave him another chance to start games down the stretch, especially since he’s signed through ‘27 and has a club option for ‘28.
3. How will the bullpen hierarchy shake out?
An open audition of sorts will also be taking place in the bullpen, which should have more back-end opportunities up for grabs now that Miller and Kilian are no longer in the mix.
Dylan Smith, Keaton Winn, Reiver Sanmartin, Sam Hentges and Jason Foley will be among the candidates to move up the ladder and show that they can be reliable late-inning options for the Giants moving forward.
“I think it’s fun,” Vitello said. “I think opportunity is another big word that stands out. I think they’ve all got to work together so that it’s a quality group. But if you kind of stand alone as an individual, you have a great opportunity to go get whatever it is that you want, whether it’s to be a starter or long reliever or closer. Just get outs. Be a mainstay in the Giants organization. Opportunity is plentiful right now.”