RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 2 sourcesSEATTLE, WASHINGTON - JUNE 19: Marcelo Mayer #11 of the Boston Red Sox reacts after a strike out during the second inning against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park on June 19, 2026 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Jack Compton/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The 2026 MLB trade deadline is in the books, and it was the most active the San Francisco Giants have been in a very long time. For that matter, I covered the Giants for the entirety of Farhan Zaidi’s churn-driven reign, and I can’t remember a period of activity like what we saw from the Giants on Sunday night and Monday. But being nearly 20 games under .500 at the deadline will do that to a team.
So, in case you missed the action, here’s everything you need to know from a day that left the current Giants gutted … and the future Giants all the more exciting.
What happened?
The Giants made five moves in total, in which they traded six rostered players and one prospect. In return, the Giants received six prospects and two rostered players.
Here are the five moves, in chronological order.
Giants trade right-hander Tyler Mahle to the Atlanta Braves for right-hander Anthony Molina (rostered, in AAA) — link to story
Giants trade second baseman Luis Arráez and right-handed reliever Caleb Kilian to the Philadelphia Phillies for right-hander Ramon Marquez (High-A) and right-handed reliever Marty Gair (High-A) — link to story
Giants trade left-hander Robbie Ray to the San Diego Padres for right-hander Miguel Mendez (AA) and shortstop Joniel Hernandez (Dominican Summer League) — link to story
Giants trade outfielder Heliot Ramos to the New York Yankees for left-hander Henry LaLane (High-A) and infielder Kaeden Kent (High-A) — link to story
Giants trade reliever Erik Miller and outfield prospect Carlos Gutierrez (High-A) to the Boston Red Sox for infielder Marcelo Mayer (rostered, on the 10-Day IL) — link to story
That’s a whole lot of action! And if you want a more in-depth breakdown of how the Giants did in each of those trades, our Bryan Murphy has you covered with grades for each deal .
The best move: the Luis Arráez deal
One can certainly make the case that Buster Posey and Zack Minasian did their best work with the Robbie Ray trade, which we’ll get to soon enough. And indeed, it may be that Ray had the best return relative to expectations.
But for me, the star of a fantastic day of wheeling and dealing was flipping Arráez and Kilian for Marquez and Gair. There was talk going into the deadline that not much of a market had materialized for Arráez, despite his stellar year. There was also talk that the Giants were holding out for a huge package.
It didn’t seem likely that the Giants would win that battle. There were limited teams that needed a second baseman, and powerless hitters don’t usually command a lot on the trade market. It seemed a deal similar to what the Giants got for Camilo Doval last year — a quartet of intriguing prospects — was most likely for Arráez.
But the Giants held firm with what they believed he was worth, and in the end emerged with Marquez, one of the best prospects traded at the deadline. The 20-year old was ranked as the No. 67 overall prospect in the latest Fangraphs top 100 and, by most accounts, slots behind only recently fourth selection Jackson Flora among pitching prospects in the Giants system. He’s been thoroughly dominant in both Low and High-A this year, sporting a 1.68 ERA and a 2.32 FIP across the two levels, with 93 strikeouts to just 19 walks in 59 innings.
Like his new teammate in Eugene, Luis De La Torre, Marquez was an unconventional international signing who was born in Arizona but grew up in Mexico. Last year was his debut season, so if he’s this good already, one can only imagine how high his ceiling can be. All prospects are, for lack of a less demeaning term, lottery tickets. But Marquez is the rare one where it’s quit easy to see him being a No. 2 or 3 starter in the Majors before long. So getting him and Gair … a triple-digit reliever who has 66 strikeouts in 36 innings this year? Fantastic work by the front office.
The worst move: Tyler Mahle for Anthony Molina
The Giants never figured to get much for Mahle, so you could argue that getting anything at all was a win. Still, Molina amounts more to a waiver claim than a trade return. He was designated for assignment this past offseason, and has a career 6.89 ERA and 5.16 FIP in 99.1 Major League innings (though almost all of those came with the Colorado Rockies, so adjust accordingly). He’s been merely average in AAA this year, and has ever been one to strike a lot of batters out. He’s only 24, but there’s not a lot in his underlying data to suggest that they Giants have an interesting project to work on.
They got off Mahle’s contract, so it wasn’t a bad deal, all things considered. But you would have hoped for a low-level flyer rather than someone who will probably get designated for assignment this winter.
Most exciting prospect received: Joniel Hernandez
Let’s play a quick game. Here are two players competing in the Dominican Summer League. See if you can figure out who they are:
Player A: 17-year old shortstop, .315/.439/.510, 15.7% strikeout rate, $1.4 million signing bonus Player B: 17-year old shortstop, .275/.393/.517, 16.7% strikeout rate, $1.0 million signing bonus
Player A is Hernandez. Player B is 2024 Jhonny Level.
Now, development is different for every player, and the DSL is the the rest of Minor League Baseball as the San Francisco Giants are to the rest of Major League Baseball. Hernandez’s move to the states next year could be far less Level and far more Rayner Arias. But when you see a 17-year old middle infielder with a seven-figure bonus putting up gaudy stats in the DSL, you can’t help but dream a little bit. Hernandez has tools galore, and instantly becomes one of the fastest players in the Giants system, and one of the fastest swingers. This is the exacty type of lottery ticket that teams s...
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