MLB trade season is still a month out, but ESPN’s Buster Olney already floated a hypothetical that has fans scratching their heads. The idea: a deal between the San Francisco Giants and New York Mets involving Willy Adames and Marcus Semien.
Olney posted on X that the Giants are willing to listen to offers for their top hitters, including Adames, Matt Chapman, and Rafael Devers. He mentioned the Mets as a potential partner, suggesting Adames could move to third base for New York while Bo Bichette slides to second. Semien, who started his career with the A’s, would head back to the Bay Area.
The Giants Are in Rough Shape
San Francisco sits 18 games back of the Dodgers in the NL West. They’re 31-46 with a run differential of minus-54. They just got swept in Miami and have lost six of their last 10. There’s no obvious path to competing this year or next, and Buster Posey, now running baseball ops, might have to make tough calls.
The Giants have three big bats who could fetch returns: Adames, Chapman, and Devers. But trading them all would signal a full teardown, and that’s a hard sell in a market that just watched the team spend big on Adames last winter.
Why the Mets Trade Idea Falls Apart
Fans online were quick to poke holes. The biggest problem? Adames has six years left on his contract, which runs through 2031. The Mets have been trimming payroll after 2028, with only Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor locked in beyond that. Trading for a mega-deal like Adames would go against everything David Stearns has done so far.
One fan put it bluntly: ‘David Stearns would NEVER make this move.’ Another pointed out the defensive disaster. Bichette has never played second base in the majors. The Mets already have infield defense issues. Moving their only steady defender, Semien, for an aging bat with a .686 OPS sounds like a step backward.
And then there’s Semien’s contract. He’s signed through 2028, three years shorter than Adames. For the Giants, taking on Semien makes some sense as a short-term placeholder. But why would San Francisco trade a younger, higher-upside player for an older one with similar money? Fans weren’t shy about calling that part nonsense too.
The Devers Situation Feels Weird
The whole Rafael Devers thing is getting strange. The Red Sox trading him to the Giants never made much sense at the time, and it hasn’t aged well either. Over the weekend, Devers was seen visibly reluctant to leave a game, and that’s not the kind of energy you want from a guy who’s supposed to be a centerpiece. Something’s off in that clubhouse.
Maybe the Giants do need to blow it up. But trading Adames to the Mets for Semien and some questionable infield shuffling isn’t the kind of reset that gets anyone excited. It just leaves everyone a little confused.
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