The San Francisco Giants still can make the playoffs, but time is running out. Moreover, they need everyone to get hot. That has not been the case this season. Instead, the team has played inconsistent baseball. It has led to several players being Giants trade candidates as a way to shake up the roster, possibly. While there may not be a major Giants roster shakeup in the MLB offseason, the team may make some tweaks.
San Francisco sits at 66-68 and trails the Los Angeles Dodgers by 11 games in the National League West. Also, they trail the New York by six games for the last wildcard spot. Things are not going as planned. When the Giants traded for Rafael Devers, many thought they had a great chance to make a run. Instead, it's been a downward trend.
The Giants have had a lot of disappointing performances from top players. However, none of those players is likely to be on the trade block. However, this particular player could be on the trading block, potentially netting them a valuable player in exchange in the MLB offseason.
How the Giants have done
Logan Webb and Robbie Ray are both contenders for the Cy-Young award. Webb is 12-9 with a 3.16 ERA, while Ray is 10-6 with a 2.93 ERA. However, the rest of the rotation has not done as well. Justin Verlander is well past his prime, as he is 2-10 with a 4.47 ERA. Meanwhile, Carson Whisenhunt is 2-1 with a 5.01 ERA. The rotation is just 16th in team ERA. Conversely, the bullpen has been excellent, ranking second in team ERA.
The story has been the same as always. Ultimately, the offense has struggled. So far, the Giants are 26th in batting average, 21st in on-base percentage, 25th in runs, 20th in home runs, and 27th in slugging percentage. Heliot Ramos has been okay, batting .265 with 16 home runs, 57 RBIs, and 68 runs. These numbers align with his usual metrics. Yet, Willy Adames has been the model of inconsistency. Adames is batting .224 with 24 home runs, 69 RBIs, and 79 runs. Matt Chapman has not been much better, batting .213 with 18 home runs, 48 RBIs, and 58 runs.
Devers is batting .241 with 12 home runs, 31 RBIs, and 30 runs in 62 games with the Giants. So far, his time with the Giants has not gone well. Despite that, he is not on the trading block. While Adames, Chapman, and Devers have all underperformed, none of them are among the Giants' trade candidates. Instead, this player is.
Tyler Fitzgerald and his metrics
Tyler Fitzgerald has bounced up and down the major leagues, being unable to stay up permanently. There is a reason for that. So far, he is batting .217 with four home runs and 14 RBIs. Fitzgerald also has a .287 on-base percentage and a .353 slugging percentage. While he does have nine stolen bases, it has not been enough to justify staying up, especially as he has struck out 70 times. Over his last 10 games, Fitzgerald was hitting .154 with two home runs and six RBIs.
Fitzgerald has played 69 games at second base and three in right field. Currently, Casey Schmitt has occupied second base in front of him, despite being a third baseman. When Chapman was injured, Fitzgerald got some playing time. Schmitt is batting .240 with nine home runs and 30 RBIs. Although those are not great numbers, they are still better than what Fitzgerald was doing. Because of that, he got the nod, while the Giants sent Fitzgerald down to get more seasoning.
Why Fitzgerald is among the good Giants trade candidates
When other underperforming stars have no-trade clauses, it makes it tougher to trade them. Likewise, when a player is struggling to stay at the major league level, he puts himself in danger of being seen as not valuable. That is where Fitzgerald is right now.
Fitzgerald could be part of the Giants roster shakeup. Of course, it will likely be a minor shakeup. When examining the Giants' struggles, it is their offense. With a star second baseman like Luiz Arraez set to be a free agent in the MLB offseason, the Giants could try to pursue him to join them. This would put Fitzgerald on the outside, looking in. Once that happens, they would likely try to trade him off to help them.
The Giants won't get much value for him. However, they could attempt to bolster their starting rotation. While they have two elite starters at the top of the rotation, the rest look bad. The Giants need to re-establish themselves as an elite pitching staff, and the best way to do that would be to acquire someone via a trade. There was hope for Fitzgerald at one point. Now, it seems like he could possibly be on his way out.
