MLB trade rumors: Each team’s best trade chip

San Francisco Giants: Mark Melancon

Mired in a deep slump that stretches back to the end of the first half last season, the Giants may be forced to accept that their championship window is closing quickly. Their attempts to build a rotation capable of supporting Madison Bumgarner by signing Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija and trading for Matt Moore have mostly fallen flat. Around the diamond, the Giants have solid, but not great position players with the exception of Buster Posey. The lineup is not built to support a middling pitching staff.

Could the Giants trade closer Mark Melancon less than a year after signing him? It is certainly a long shot at best, but they do not have much else to work with. Melancon does have a full no-trade clause in his new contract with the team, but perhaps he would be willing to accept a return to the Washington Nationals, where he pitched in the second half last season.

The writing really is on the wall for the Giants. Their rotation would have been weak around Bumgarner even if he had not injured himself on a dirt bike. The lineup is built to play solid defense and win close games, not slug it out for six runs a night. The team that won three World Series titles starting in 2010 is at a crossroads.