Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- The San Francisco Giants have lost eight of nine games to sit at the bottom of the MLB standings.
- Four veterans are expected to be traded before the deadline due to poor performance and roster mismatches.
- The team's struggles have reached the front office, and changes are coming to reshape the roster for a possible playoff push.
The San Francisco Giants are an absolute mess. After another loss on Wednesday, San Francisco has lost eight of its nine games and is now tied at the bottom of the MLB standings. Not only the NL West, but all of MLB. It's early-ish, but that is a problem.
What could have gone wrong for San Francisco this season has, with few exceptions. Rafael Devers looks like a shell of his former MVP-caliber self, the bullpen lacks a real closer and even Logan Webb is in the midst of a down year. While I'm sure the unorthodox Tony Vitello hire isn't helping, it's clear that this roster that Buster Posey assembled just isn't working. Whether the Giants are able to salvage their season ahead of the trade deadline or not, it feels like these players will be gone in the coming months, as changes are needed.
RHP Tyler Mahle
Buster Posey attempted to surround the likes of Logan Webb, Robbie Ray and Landen Roupp with veteran innings eaters to round out the Giants' rotation, and these short-term deals have not played out how he had envisioned. Mahle's struggles, in particular, are disappointing because he was coming off such a strong year with the Texas Rangers.
The right-hander has a 5.00 ERA in seven starts, seeing his walk rate spike to an absurdly high 11.4 percent and allowing a whole lot of hard contact. He's had some good starts, even shutting out good teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers and Tampa Bay Rays, but the bad has outweighed the good. Each time he's put together a good outing, he's followed it up with a bad one.
Mahle is on a one-year deal, and whether it's Trevor McDonald, Carson Whisenhunt, or even Carson Seymour, it can be argued that, regardless of whether San Francisco winds up competitive in the coming months, the team has better internal options. They should be eager to get whatever value Mahle can command on the trade block as an expiring contract and roll with a different option.
RHP Adrian Houser
As disappointing as Mahle has been, though, the Adrian Houser situation is far more dire. Signed to a two-year, $22 million deal in the offseason, Houser has been one of the worst starting pitchers in the sport thus far. He has a 6.19 ERA in seven starts, allowing 45 hits and seven home runs while striking out only 19 batters in 36.1 innings of work. Here are Houser's MLB ranks among the 125 pitchers with at least 30 innings of work.
Statistic | Adrian Houser 2026 | MLB Rank |
|---|---|---|
ERA | 6.19 | 112th |
FIP | 5.59 | 111th |
WHIP | 1.54 | 105th |
K% | 11.4% | 122nd |
fWAR | -0.2 | T-113th |
He ranks towards the bottom in just about every statistical category, and it should come as no surprise that the Giants are just 1-6 when he's taken the mound. Frankly, I'm surprised he remains in the rotation to this point.
Houser's contract will admittedly be more difficult to dump since he has an extra guaranteed year, but I don't see how he survives on this roster much longer. If the Giants are unable to trade him, DFA'ing him would make sense. He's holding the team back, and there are other younger starters worth a look.
LHP Ryan Borucki
The Giants added bullpen depth by signing Ryan Borucki to a one-year deal after he failed to make the Chicago White Sox's Opening Day roster, and it's safe to say this experiment hasn't gone well. The nine-year veteran has a 5.56 ERA thus far, allowing seven runs on 15 hits in 11.1 innings of work across 13 appearances.
He was brought in to get left-handed hitters out as he had done his entire career, and to his credit, lefties have a .468 OPS against him. The problem, though, is that Borucki has allowed right-handed hitters to post a 1.370 OPS in 24 plate appearances. Borucki can be effective in certain spots, but the three-batter rule makes it very difficult to use him when he's unable to get righties out at all.
If the Giants are deadline sellers, Borucki can net them something because of his prowess against lefties, and even if they're trying to win, I'm not sure how good a fit he is in San Francisco, especially when the Giants already have lefties who are more capable against righties like Erik Miller (when healthy) and Matt Gage.
C Patrick Bailey
Easily the hottest take I have is Patrick Bailey, and honestly, if this list was made a week ago, he probably wouldn't have been on here. I now think Bailey's time in San Francisco is running out because, well, the Giants appear to be moving on from him.
Bailey has started just once in the Giants' last four games. This is particularly jarring because last season, he ranked third in the majors with 121 appearances as a catcher. He has gone from a guy who played as much as anyone at the position to one who, lately, hasn't been starting. The reason for that has to do with his bat.
While Bailey is a premier defender behind the plate, he has never hit much. The 70 wRC+ he had last season is a mark the Giants could live with because of his elite defense, but this season, he has a 16 wRC+, good for 265th out of 267 players with at least 80 plate appearances. He has been one of the worst hitters in the sport and a complete liability, as even with his defense in mind, he's been worth 0.0 fWAR.
The Giants appear eager to roll with Jesus Rodriguez as their primary catcher and Eric Haase as their backup, and frankly, I don't blame them with what Bailey is doing as a hitter. Once Daniel Susac returns, the Giants will have yet another catcher to think about. Bailey should have value around the league because of his defense, and the Giants appear ready to move on. It feels like it's a matter of when, not if, something happens.
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