SAN FRANCISCO — When the Giants board their charter jet home from this seven-game road trip, the passenger manifest will look different than the one on their flight to San Diego.
“There’ll be changes, for sure,” manager Tony Vitello acknowledged Wednesday, a few days ahead of his first trade deadline leading a major-league clubhouse.
San Francisco manager Tony Vitello confirmed that the Giants will be sellers at the trade deadline, with nearly all of their players available. Getty Images
Even after series wins over the Angels and Brewers, the Giants’ position as one of a handful of definitive sellers hasn’t budged. They ended Wednesday 16 games below .500, one of five teams buried 10 or more games out of a playoff spot.
Although Luis Arraez boarded the plane Wednesday night, and Robbie Ray is slated to start Thursday’s series opener, neither player is likely to be on the flight back from Texas.
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Tyler Mahle, Heliot Ramos and any number of relievers could also be dealt before the 3 p.m. PT Monday trade deadline. They could also unload Willy Adames or Rafael Devers, if they can find a trade partner willing to take on their bloated contracts with more than $100 million left on each.
“For any team that makes a change throughout the league, it is a little bit of a restart to the season,” Vitello said. “Or a fresh start, of some sort.”
Arraez has been special for the Giants season, batting a major league-leading .331 while at the top of San Francisco’s lineup. Getty Images
Arraez, who has constantly praised Vitello as a rookie manager, is a strong voice in the locker room and will be missed if traded away. Getty Images
Arraez is viewed as possibly the most likely player to be on the move in all of baseball, given his exceptional two-way play and status as a free-agent to be. But the seemingly inevitable end of his brief but memorable tenure in San Francisco is something he prefers not to think about.
“I don’t know. I don’t know,” Arraez said when asked Wednesday about the looming deadline. “I just try to be focused and play my game. I don’t want to think about trades or anything. I just try to go out there and do my job.”
It should have been harder than most days for Arraez to keep his focus on the field as the Giants wrapped up their homestand with a feel-good 16-3 win over the Brewers. If all goes as expected, it would be the last time he takes the field in front of the fans at Oracle Park.
Arraez’s signing was met with mixed reactions from a fanbase who doubted his ability to play second base and the utility of his contact-oriented hitting style. Only six months later, in what could have been his finale in front of the same fans, no player generated more cheers.
Forced to confront reality afterward, Arraez expressed his gratitude to the fans for their quick embrace and the organization for giving him a chance when no other team would.
Despite their record, Arraez said his time in San Francisco has been “amazing.”
“Especially [because] they gave me a real opportunity to play second base,” he said. “I really appreciate the organization. They gave me an opportunity to go out there and play second base. Nobody trusted me and the organization trusted me to play second base. I really appreciate that. …
Robbie Ray is also a hot name ahead of the trade deadline with many contenders in need of another starting pitcher. MLB Photos via Getty Images
“[The fans] are amazing. Everyday they cheer for us. And they get loud everyday. I love the fans. I want to say thanks to them.”
It would have been hard to script a more appropriate sendoff for Arraez in front of the home fans. If it was his final time wearing the Giants’ home cream uniforms, he got everything out of them, just like everything he does.
There was a small hole in the left knee of the pants and dirt stains still there from a diving play he made to his right in what may end up being his final act with the Giants, a fitting bookend to his defensive transformation and dedication to his work with infield coach Ron Washington.
“He literally had to go full speed and then extend full out on that play,” Vitello said. “So that’s how his day ended. It kind of marks what kind of day he had. But you could really just stack up all the days together. He’s playing phenomenal baseball.”
Even during the lowest doldrums of the Giants’ lineup early in the season, Arraez provided a rare bright spot with a customary hit or two almost every night. On this afternoon, he collected four, raising his average to .331, overtaking the Marlins’ Otto Lopez for the major-league lead.
Logan Webb bestowed him the highest compliment, calling him a “modern-day Tony Gwynn.”
“He’s an unbelievable hitter,” Webb said. “I wasn’t a fan of him because he’d get hits off me and his power takes are incredible. But getting to know him and become his friend and teammate and see the work he puts in everyday, it’s pretty special.”
Even teams going nowhere have to field nine players, and there are still plenty of fans passing through the turnstiles at the corner of Third & King — 35,399 for a weekday matinee — who are paying to be entertained. Without Arreaz, that will only get harder.
“He made everybody’s day better,” Vitello said. “Pick any fan you want, [media], players, coaches – literally made everyone’s day better, everyday. There wasn’t any days off, either.”
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