The San Francisco Giants are likely to continue making moves in the trade market throughout the summer. The club already shocked many around the league by sending two-time Gold Glove winner Patrick Bailey to the Cleveland Guardians on May 9. Although trades this early in the season are somewhat rare, the Giants are already 7.5 games out of first place and have the worst run differential in baseball (-42).
Because of their struggles and having a payroll near $200 million, San Francisco would love to shed some salary. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale recently reported that the Giants are open to offloading Jung Hoo Lee, Willy Adames, Rafael Devers, and Matt Chapman. According to Spotrac, the quartet earns over $100 million combined per season.
Moving underperforming players on high contracts can be difficult to do, though. Instead, San Francisco could look to trade away an overachieving player in hopes of receiving a solid return. Bleacher Report’s Joel Reuter recently compiled a list of such MLB players and included Giants infielder Casey Schmitt.
Although the team has struggled in 2026, Schmitt has fared well. The versatile infielder is currently slashing .294/.348/.516 mostly as his team’s designated hitter. He leads all Giants hitters in several categories, including home runs, on-base percentage, and slugging. Along with DH, Schmitt has also been deployed at first base, second base, and third base so far this season. Manager Tony Vitello also previously claimed that the slugger could eventually get game time in the corner outfield spots.
Casey Schmitt’s Trade Value May Not Get Higher for the Giants
GettyCasey Schmitt has been a rare bright spot for the San Francisco Giants in 2026.
Because of his offensive output and versatility, the San Francisco Giants will likely receive trade calls on Schmitt. The infielder is also currently earning less than $1 million for the 2026 season. He is eligible for arbitration through the 2029 season and then will officially become an unrestricted free agent in 2030. All of this means that the Giants are getting a quality player at a relatively low price.
So why would San Francisco want to trade Schmitt? As Reuter points out, the veteran has been a solid role player in recent years with the Giants. In fact, he has never played 100 games in a season during his big league career. Although he could very well keep up his strong start to the season throughout 2026, he has just never done it before.
As a result, Schmitt’s value may not get any higher as the team struggles to get better. Buster Posey, San Francisco’s president of baseball operations, could look to move the infielder soon to help the team’s future.
San Francisco Would Likely Prefer to Make Other Moves
The San Francisco Giants could also opt to keep Schmitt in place if they can trade one of the aforementioned underachievers. Offloading Chapman or Devers would open up an everyday role for the infielder. Nevertheless, there probably are not many clubs around the league that want to take on the two contracts. Devers is still owed $226 million, while Chapman has $125 million remaining on his deal.
Bad previous moves certainly seemed to have hindered San Francisco. Potentially trading away Schmitt would be risky, but it could be one of the few ways for the Giants to strengthen their subpar farm system.
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