San Francisco Giants Deal Star Reliever, Acquire Slugger In Wild Trade Proposal

The San Francisco Giants send away a fan favorite reliever in exchange for a Red Sox slugger in this wild trade proposal.

Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

The San Francisco Giants have made some nice moves this offseason, but it feels like there's still some work to do.

Depending on how aggressive Buster Posey wants to get, he could hit the trade market to fill some holes as most of the top free agents have gone dry. Though the Giants handed out the largest contract in franchise history to Willy Adames, the lineup could still use another boost if they are going to take the next step towards contention coming off seven missed postseasons in the last eight years.

In order to upgrade the lineup via trade however, San Francisco would likely have to ship off someone on their big league roster. With one of the weaker farm systems in baseball and top prospect Bryce Eldridge rightfully seen as untouchable, there's not much wiggle room to deal a minor leaguer. Robbie Hyde offered up a fascinating deal that saw the Giants trade away one of their best relief pitchers in Tyler Rogers in a deal with the Boston Red Sox which brought them back Japanese designated hitter Masataka Yoshida.

"I feel like they could use another bat over there [in San Francisco]," Hyde declared. “Maybe send [Yoshida] over there with some cash and bring back a reliever in Tyler Rogers. The Red Sox do need another reliever in the back end of the bullpen, in my opinion."

Rogers is coming off one of the best seasons of his career and for the third time led the National League in appearances, coming into games 77 times in 2024 and posting a 2.82 ERA with 51 strikeouts in just over 70 innings pitched. While Rogers is usually in the game in low-leverage type situations, having someone who can be that reliable and dependable out of the bullpen who you can count on to make a ton of quality relief appearances is valuable.

Perhaps more valuable than what Yoshida brings to the table, who is a solid player in his own right but doesn't give you the kind of production as Rogers. Having spent just two seasons in Major League Baseball thus far, Yoshida has played in 248 career games and has a very solid .285 batting average along with an OPS of .775. He has hit 25 home runs in his two MLB seasons and has been a solid addition to the Red Sox lineup since coming over.

It would make sense for the Giants to be interested in someone like Yoshida but giving up Rogers is a steep price to pay for effectively a designated hitter who doesn't bring a ton of power like Yoshida. If Boston, who has one of the best farm systems in baseball, could throw in a prospect as well, this could make some more sense.