MLB Trade Rumors: 5 potential landing spots for Christian Yelich

2. San Francisco Giants

After crashing down to their worst record in decades, it’s obvious the San Francisco Giants have some serious work to do this offseason. Evan Longoria fills a massive void at third base, but left and center field are still up in the air. The Giants have been in talks with the Pittsburgh Pirates about All-Star Andrew McCutchen, but he is a free agent at the end of the year.

The Giants have so many of their core players locked up beyond 2018 that it makes little sense to try and go year-by-year with McCutchen as one of their outfielders. With a very thin farm system, it makes even less sense to rent a player who might not put the team over the top.

Christian Yelich offers some insurance if the Giants are forced to take a longer-term view about their chances to contend. Adding Longoria with no other big moves still leaves them as the fourth-best team in the NL West.

San Francisco does not have the best farm system, but they were one of the first teams to have a deal in place with the Marlins pending Giancarlo Stanton’s approval. That working relationship and familiarity won’t hurt if Yelich is being seriously peddled. The Giants will stay engaged as trade talks heat up, but will likely be outgunned when it’s all said and done. The Stanton trade was a different scenario — money was the only thing that mattered — but it will take multiple top-100 prospects to land Yelich.