Hey, it's Zack.
This one connects directly to Issue #2 of The Save.
That is where we talked about Rafael Devers. How Boston gave him a franchise record extension. How they signed Alex Bregman and gave him Devers' position without telling him first. How Devers was traded to San Francisco while he was one of the best hitters in baseball.
One year later the Giants are trying to trade him again.
And Devers is just one piece of a much bigger problem in San Francisco.
THE ENTRANCE
Buster Posey took over as president of baseball operations before the 2025 season. One of the greatest catchers in the history of the game. A Hall of Famer. A beloved figure in San Francisco and across baseball.
He wasted no time. He signed Willy Adames to a seven year $182 million deal. He extended Matt Chapman for six years $151 million. He took on Devers and the hundreds of millions remaining on his contract from Boston. He signed Luis Arraez, Adrian Houser, Tyler Mahle and others to fill out the roster.
The message was clear. The Giants were ready to get back to their winning ways. Not so long ago this was a franchise that won three World Series championships in five years. They wanted that feeling back.
It has not worked.
As of this week the Giants have one of the worst records in baseball. They are more than sixteen games back in the NL West and more than seven games out of the final wild card spot. This will be their fifth consecutive season without a playoff appearance. Five straight years of missing the postseason while spending at a level that should have produced results by now. And they are now actively shopping the same players Posey brought in to lead the franchise back to relevance.
Then there is the manager question. When Bob Melvin was dismissed after going 81 and 81 last season Posey had his pick of experienced candidates. Former Orioles manager Brandon Hyde was available. Kurt Suzuki and Vance Wilson both former big league catchers with professional experience interviewed for the job. Instead Posey hired Tony Vitello the head coach at the University of Tennessee. Vitello had never played or coached a single game in professional baseball. He became the first college coach in MLB history to move directly to a major league manager position without any professional experience whatsoever. Posey even paid a $3 million buyout to get him out of his Tennessee contract.
Vitello is a brilliant college coach. He won a national championship at Tennessee in 2024. But college baseball and the major leagues are two entirely different worlds. Managing a roster of veteran professionals earning tens of millions of dollars is nothing like recruiting eighteen year olds in Knoxville.
According to multiple reports the Giants are open to trading Devers, Adames and Chapman. Posey himself told ESPN they are going to have to be open minded about anything that presents itself. Vitello acknowledged the trade conversations make sense given where the team stands.
The most immediate moves available are Luis Arraez and Robbie Ray. Both are on expiring contracts. Arraez has been one of the Giants best players all season. Ray is a known commodity with playoff experience. Neither comes with the complications of a long term commitment. Trading them is the easy part. What comes next is not.
The fire sale that nobody wanted to talk about is now the only conversation happening in San Francisco.
THE DELIVERY
Here is what makes this story so interesting and so familiar at the same time.
The Giants are not the first team to spend big and fall short. They will not be the last. But what is happening in San Francisco right now raises real questions about how they got here.
First. The roster construction created problems from the start.
When the Giants acquired Devers they already had Chapman at third base. Devers had spent his entire career at third. Rather than refusing to move positions again as he did with the Red Sox Devers accepted the move to first base in San Francisco. But that created a new problem. Bryce Eldridge one of their most promising young players is a natural first baseman. When Devers has served as the designated hitter this season Eldridge has played first. The Giants signed Devers to play out of position while their best young position player had to wait behind him.
Adames has underperformed. Devers is hitting well below his career norms. The players brought in to lead this team have not led it anywhere.
Second. The contracts make everything complicated.
Chapman has four years and approximately $100 million remaining on his deal. He also has a no trade clause. Any team trading for him is not getting a two month rental. They are taking on a long term commitment. That limits the market. Adames has five years and $140 million remaining after 2026 and also has a full no trade clause. Both would have to agree to waive their no trade clauses before any deal can happen. Devers has more than $200 million still owed on his deal and his performance has not justified that commitment. Teams interested in trading for any of them will need San Francisco to eat a significant portion of what remains.
Trading expensive underperforming players is one of the hardest things to do in baseball. You almost never get fair value. You end up paying a premium just to get out of a bad situation.
The one straightforward move available to San Francisco is Luis Arraez. He is on a one year deal and has been one of the best hitters on the roster all season. His defensive versatility and elite contact skills make him attractive to contenders. Trading Arraez is easy. Trading Devers, Adames and Chapman is not.
Third. The Devers connection matters.
We covered this when we wrote about Boston. Devers was one of the best hitters in baseball when the Red Sox traded him. Since arriving in San Francisco he has not been the same player. He accepted the move to first base. He has tried to make it work. But the results have not been there.
It has been exactly one full season of baseball since the Giants acquired Devers. In that time they are well below .500. One year. One full look at what this roster could do. The results speak for themselves.
The question nobody can fully answer is whether this is a player in a temporary decline or a player who was affected by being moved twice from places he called home. He committed long term to Boston. They moved him anyway. He committed to San Francisco. Now they are looking to move him again. What does that do to a player? I have been in clubhouses long enough to know that comfort, stability and trust in your organization matter. They do not show up in any analytics model. But they are real.
Just this past Sunday it spilled into public view. With the Giants trailing by one run in the ninth inning Devers drew a leadoff walk. Manager Vitello called for a pinch runner. Devers waved him off and refused to leave the game. He was overruled and walked back to the dugout visibly frustrated. Vitello downplayed it publicly. But for a franchise already looking to move on from its highest paid player it was not a good look.
Fourth. The Logan Webb question.
Logan Webb is one of the best starters in baseball and has been the most consistent player on this roster. While everything around him has fallen apart Webb has been a constant. Earlier this season the Giants said he was untouchable. He was the one piece they would build around regardless of what happened to the roster around him. Now multiple executives around the league say he could be available before the trade deadline.
That shift tells you everything about where this organization is headed. When a franchise goes from protecting its best player at all costs to entertaining offers for him the rebuild is no longer coming. It has already started.
THE SAVE
Buster Posey is one of the greatest players of his generation. What he has built in San Francisco has not worked. That is the honest assessment. The signings. The manager hire. The roster construction. None of it has come together the way anyone expected when he took the job.
There is one reason for optimism. Bryce Eldridge is 21 years old and has been one of the few bright spots on this roster all season. He is young. He is producing. And he is doing it at a position that was being blocked by one of the most expensive players on the team.
Sometimes the best thing a struggling organization can do is get out of the way of its own future.
A full rebuild is complicated when the players you are shopping still have hundreds of millions of dollars left on their contracts. The path forward in San Francisco is not clear. But the direction is.
The money was there. The names were there. The intention was there. What was also there was a first year MLB manager learning the professional game in real time while managing a roster full of expensive veterans with playoff expectations. That combination rarely works. A rebuilding team gives a new manager room to grow. A win now roster does not. The Giants tried to do both at the same time. And right now they are getting the worst of both worlds.
Talk soon, Z
The Save is a personal newsletter based on my own experiences, opinions, and recollections. The opinions expressed here are mine alone and do not represent any team, organization, union or employer past or present. When discussing players, contracts or organizational decisions I am sharing my perspective as a former player — not making legal or financial claims. When I share stories involving others I am telling them from my point of view. When I share tips or lessons I am sharing what worked for me. Always do your own research and consult professionals when making important decisions.