As it became increasingly evident the Los Angeles Dodgers would likely look to address their bullpen before the July 31 trade deadline, the San Francisco Giants emerged as a potential partner to line up on a deal with.
However, much of that was solely predicated on the Giants boasting multiple relief pitchers who conceivably would fit well with the Dodgers. Namely Sam Dyson, Reyes Moronta, Will Smith and Tony Watson.
Beyond that, there isn’t much history to the longtime rivals trading with one another. Furthermore, Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi previously was general manager with the Dodgers.
Despite the apparent obstacles, Zaidi asserted in early June a potential trade with the Dodgers — or any other team within the National League West — could actually be of benefit for the Giants. However, he’s now backtracked on those remarks, per Mark Willard of KNBR:
Farhan Zaidi on if he's still open to dealing with the Dodgers:
"It would be hard for a lot of reasons. It's certainly more complicated than it was when I first made those statements."— Mark Willard (@Mark_T_Willard) July 26, 2019
While Zaidi did not overtly state as much, it can be deduced the Giants winning 17 of their last 21 games has had an impact on the front office. San Francisco enters play Thursday night just 3.5 games out of the second spot for the NL Wild Card Game.
The Giants are tied for second place in the NL West, though still a sizable 14.5 games back of the Dodgers. Nonetheless, their winning stretch has led to conflicting reports on the Giants’ willingness, or lack thereof, to become sellers at the trade deadline.
In the event Zaidi elects to press the reset button on an aging roster, the Dodgers reportedly remain interested in their crop of relief pitchers who may become available. It was just two weeks ago that Friedman and Zaidi were said to be mutually interested in a trade involving Dyson, Moronta, Smith or Watson.
