San Francisco Giants ready to sell star players ahead of trade deadline as Buster Posey’s rebuild unravels

We’re not even halfway through the 2026 Major League Baseball season, and the San Francisco Giants are already ready to throw in the towel.

The Giants even lead just 30-43 after beating the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday afternoon. They are 17 games behind the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers. Incredibly, despite the addition of a third wildcard spot, they are currently eight games behind the San Diego Padres and Washington Nationals in that position.

To make matters worse, they would have to get past the Cubs, Diamondbacks, Pirates, Marlins, Reds and Mets to reach the third wild card spot. In other words, only the lowly Colorado Rockies have a worse record than the National League Giants.

So it’s no surprise that several recent reports say San Francisco’s front office is essentially open for business ahead of the league trade deadline. MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand, ESPN’s Buster Olney and The Athletic all have said, to varying degrees, that the Giants are ready to sell.

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Feinsand and Olney specifically mentioned some of the team’s most expensive players, with first baseman Rafael Devers, shortstop Willy Adames and third baseman Matt Chapman among those the Giants are interested in signing. But star pitcher Logan Webb and some of the team’s young big leaguers are not expected to be blocked.

Less than two years ago, in October 2024, the Giants’ ownership group announced that they had named Buster Posey president of Baseball Operations. Posey is a Giants franchise legend and has a wealth of experience in and around the organization. But he also had little experience with the analytical evaluation methods most favored in modern baseball.

This was seen as a point in his favor among baseball purists when he replaced the more data-driven Farhan Zaidi. Zaidi joined the Giants’ front office after helping turn the Dodgers into a juggernaut and was fired after three consecutive years of .500 baseball in San Francisco, despite winning 107 games in 2021.

In Posey’s first year on the job, they went 81-81. In their second year, they follow a much worse course. Even playing in the massive San Francisco market and increasing payroll from $175 million in 2024 to $210 million in 2026. Maybe it’s time to admit that the Buster Posey experiment has already failed.

San Francisco’s current predicament isn’t entirely on him, of course, but it’s also clear that some of their biggest moves haven’t worked out.

San Francisco Giants third baseman Rafael Devers reacts next to first base coach Mark Hallberg during the first inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field in Denver. (Ron Chenoy/Imagn Images)

Matt Chapman signed his extension before Posey took over, but his first big move was bringing in free agent shortstop Willy Adames. While Adames was a well-above-average player in 2025, his plate discipline collapsed in 2026 and his defensive metrics also took a big step backwards. He has 4.8 wins non-renewal in 2024, 4 in 2025 and -0.3 wins so far in 2026, earning $26 million per year through 2031.

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Then there’s Rafael Devers. Devers became a star in Boston, but fell out with the front office after being asked to change positions. The Giants stepped in by trading several prospects with the intention of building around the Red Sox until his contract expires in 2033.

Instead, Devers has just nine homers in 2026, is hitting .234 with a .294 on-base percentage, has been a below-average hitter this season, and is worth -0.1 wins above replacement. And now on the trading block.

That’s bad enough. But the players Posey traded make the situation worse.

The key to the trade was former top prospect Kyle Harrison. Harrison fell to the Brewers in the offseason and surprisingly excelled immediately. He struck out 80 batters in 65 innings with a 2.47 ERA and just 18 walks. According to FanGraphs, Devers’ WAR is negative and Harrison’s is +1.7. He’s making just $782,000 this year and won’t hit arbitration until 2028. Devers will earn approximately $29 million annually through 2033.

James Tibbs III was the other name in the Devers trade and was eventually traded, this time to the Dodgers. He also hit 19 home runs in 67 games in Triple-A, making himself one of the top candidates again with scores of .305/.423/.609. Keith Law ranked him as the 24th best player in baseball in his last update.

It’s not all doom and gloom; Bryce Eldridge appears to be finally fulfilling his promise, and 18-year-old Josuar Gonzalez could become a star down the road. Luis Arraez has been a pleasant surprise and Casey Schmitt has turned into an everyday player. However, the sales team was very disappointing and there was little help from the farm system.

And therein lies the problem. The Giants couldn’t field a full roster despite their market size and budget.

Landen Roupp of the San Francisco Giants pitches against the Chicago Cubs in the top of the first inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco, California on June 12, 2026. (Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

By comparison, the Dodgers are currently without Will Smith and Teoscar Hernandez, while Tommy Edman played his first game of the season. Blake Snell has thrown three innings this season and Tyler Glasnow is on the 60-day IL with a back injury. Edwin Diaz had an ERA of over 10 before his arm injury. Los Angeles leads 48-27 and is on its way to another division title. How do they do this?

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With Alex Call, Ryan Ward, Emmett Sheehan, Dalton Rushing, Justin Wrobleski, Will Klein and Kyle Hurt. LA excels at having a farm system full of talent ready to step in for injured stars at Triple-A. They create quality depth and backups at key positions. Use analytics to piece together the best defensive position of any team in the league. And they find bull pen fragments in unexpected places. Blake Treinen, Alex Vesia, Klein, Hurt, Jack Dreyer, Edgardo Henriquez. They all played important roles.

Posey, meanwhile, liked the franchise-altering Devers trade. He gave away Kyle Harrison and James Tibbs. He arranged with Adames only for him to fall off the cliff. And now he’s looking to cut wages and rebuild again. It’s a mess, and it’s what separates the best organizations from the rest. The Giants are currently just below the group we call “the laggards.”