Giants Have a $25 Million Problem Named Robbie Ray and the Trade Deadline Is Looming

The San Francisco Giants have a decision to make on Robbie Ray, and it’s not just about whether he stays or goes. It’s about how much money they’re willing to eat to get a deal done.

Ray is in the final year of his contract, which pays him $25 million this season. That’s a lot for a pitcher who, despite an All-Star nod in 2025, has some concerning underlying numbers. According to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand, if the Giants are willing to cover part of that salary, there will be interested teams. And not just any teams — contenders looking to plug a mid-rotation arm for the stretch run.

So far this season, Ray has a 3.45 ERA with 86 strikeouts and an 8-6 record over 18 starts and 101.2 innings. Those are solid numbers. But the peripherals tell a different story. His walk percentage, ground-ball rate, fastball velocity, barrel percentage, and chase percentage all land in the bottom 30% of the league. He’s 34 years old and the stuff isn’t what it used to be. Yet he’s still finding ways to get outs. That’s worth something to a team that needs rotation depth.

The Giants are currently 39-54, sitting fourth in the NL Central. They’re not making a playoff push this year. So moving Ray makes sense if they can shed some salary and get a prospect or two in return. But that $25 million price tag is a serious hurdle. Teams don’t usually want to take on that kind of cash for a rental unless the production is elite, and Ray’s production is more “effective” than dominant right now.

Feinsand wrote that if San Francisco picks up part of the remaining salary, a number of contenders would be open to adding him. That’s the key. How much are the Giants willing to pay for someone else to take Ray off their hands? And does that make sense for a team that’s already rebuilding?

This is one of those situations where the math matters as much as the baseball. The Giants have to decide if eating a few million dollars now is worth whatever return they can get, or if they’d rather just ride out the season with Ray and let him walk for nothing in free agency. Either way, the clock is ticking. August 3 isn’t that far away.