San Francisco Giants trade pitch sends Cy Young winner to California rival for average return

San Francisco Giants trade pitch sends Cy Young winner to California rival for average return originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

It was expected to be a rather strange season for the San Francisco Giants, and while the campaign hasn't gone horribly to start the season, the Giants can certainly be playing better baseball.

The Giants have a few big weeks coming up, and the months leading into the trade deadline will give us a good sense of what the organization should do. Over the past few years, it feels like the Giants should have been sellers at times, but didn't go that route.

In a recent trade idea with the Los Angeles Angels, the Giants would be doing just that, finally pulling the plug on some of the core pieces on this roster.

Giants Acquire: George Klassen, Walbert Urena, Ubaldo Soto

Angels Acquire: Robbie Ray

“The Giants make this trade because they are out of contention in 2026, sitting last in the NL West at 9–13, so they pivot from trying to compete to building for the future.

“Robbie Ray, despite pitching well at 2.86 ERA with 31 strikeouts in 28.1 innings, becomes their most valuable trade chip—an established MLB starter on a contending-type contract who can bring back multiple controllable arms,” Ryan Shea wrote.

Robbie Ray is a very intriguing name if he were to be on the trade market. He's one of those guys who should probably go for more than he actually will, but the injury history won't be in his favor. If there's one thing Ray has been able to do over the past few years, it's get outs at a high level.