SF Giants add former Cy Young winner in major trade with Mariners
The Giants didn't land Shohei Ohtani or Yoshinobu Yamamoto, so they turned to the trade market
The Giants didn’t land either of the two biggest free agents available this offseason, but are now trying to course-correct via trade.
San Francisco has agreed to trade outfielder Mitch Haniger and starter Anthony DeSclafani to Seattle for Robbie Ray. Ray, a left-handed starter, won the 2021 American League Cy Young Award.
The trade provides the Giants with an extra roster spot and sheds two big salary figures while giving them the chance at a high-upside arm in 2024.
The 32-year-old Ray is coming off Tommy John surgery and won’t pitch in 2024 until after the All-Star break. He’s owed $73 million over the last three years of his contract, though he’ll have the chance to opt out after 2024.
Ray made one start last year before his injury. In 2022, his last full season, he posted a 3.71 ERA across 189 innings.
Haniger was the Giants’ biggest free agent acquisition last year, when the Giants inked him to a three-year, $43.5 million deal. Haniger’s long-documented injury issues cropped up last season, though; oblique and forearm injuries limited the veteran to 61 games.
Haniger spent the first six seasons of his career in Seattle, making the transaction a homecoming for him.
DeSclafani, meanwhile, is entering the last year of a three-year, $36 million contract with San Francisco. An ankle injury late in the 2021 season knocked him out for nearly the entire 2022 campaign and a flexor strain cut his 2023 short.
DeSclafani and Haniger are making a combined $29 million in 2024, while Ray will earn $23 million. San Francisco is also sending cash to Seattle in the deal.
The trade clears up the Giants’ crowded outfield a bit. Since Michael Conforto opted back in, the Giants have Conforto, Mike Yastrzemski, Austin Slater, center fielder Jung Hoo Lee, Luis Matos, Heliot Ramos, Wade Meckler and Tyler Fitzgerald firmly in the mix.
When he returns, Ray could bolster San Francisco’s starting rotation. Alex Cobb is also expected to miss the first half of the season after undergoing offseason hip surgery, but ace Logan Webb, Kyle Harrison, Tristan Beck and Keaton Winn project to be mainstays.
Because of the roster space and salary implications, this deal could be the precursor to more moves. Free agents like Blake Snell, Sean Manaea, Shota Imanaga, Marcus Stroman and Jordan Montgomery remain available, as to star position players Matt Chapman and Cody Bellinger.