Farhan Zaidi Admits Struggling Giants May Sell at MLB Trade Deadline

The Giants have no clear direction less than three weeks before the July 30 MLB trade deadline.

San Francisco enters its series opener on Friday against Carlos Correa and the Minnesota Twins with a 45-49 record.

This season was supposed to be a rebound – with several notable free agents joining, including Blake Snell, Matt Chapman, Jung-Ho Lee, Jorge Soler and Jordan Hicks – but in reality it was a turbulent season with very few smooth spots.

President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi gave a stark assessment. Giants speaking with KNBR 680’s Tom Tolbert and Adam Copeland on Thursday.

“Look, we’re four games below .500,” Zaidi said shortly after the Giants lost 5-3 to the Toronto Blue Jays at Oracle Stadium. “We’ve got some great stories, [Heliot] “Ramos and Logan Webb are making the All-Star team for the first time. But overall it’s been really disappointing. I think we’ve put a lot of effort into this team. We have over $200 million in salary. I think we need the players to show us the right direction.”

Most fans and experts expected San Francisco to buy Before the trade deadline In order to push for an NL Wild Card berth, but given the way the team is playing, Zaidi hasn’t ruled out going the other way.

“If we show signs of life and feel like we’re one step closer to a good start, that’s going to determine what happens,” Zaidi told Tolbert and Copeland. “If we continue to play the way we’ve played the last five days, we’re going to have to consider selling some of the younger players, because when I talk to Giants fans, that’s what you hear a lot, you know, they’re very excited about players who might be here for the next five or six years, and we have a lot of those players coming to Sacramento now than players who might be free agents at the end of this year or next year.”

The Giants close out the first half with three games against the Twins and then play 11 games after the All-Star break before the trade deadline at 3 p.m. PT on July 30.

So they have 14 games to show Zaidi that he deserves to be added to this list.

“It’s a very important period for us over the next two or three weeks and I want us to take a strong direction as we approach the last two days before the trade deadline. Obviously how we play until then will determine that,” said Zaid.

The Giants selling veteran pieces at the deadline would be a somewhat surprising development, but they have players who could help contenders in the final stretch, if that’s the direction Zaidi is forced to go.

Download and follow the Giants Talk Podcast