Aaron Judge to the San Francisco Giants? There's reason to believe he might actually want to play here, given that he grew up rooting for the Giants. San Francisco only has about $66.5 million on the books for 2023, so there's no reason they couldn't add a player of Judge's caliber even if they maintain the disappointing trend of spending about $160 million on their payroll. Signing Judge, extending Carlos Rodón, and making several other key additions could all be in the cards for the Giants if they play their hand right, but will they?

How badly did the Giants screw up the trading deadline? Fans want to know, after the team didn't really buy and didn't really sell amidst a highly frustrating and disappointing 2022 campaign. However, making a trade just for the sake of making a trade wouldn't have been wise. Rodón has value for the Giants for the rest of the season, and they can also give him a qualifying offer after 2022. Other top rentals like Willson Contreras weren't dealt, suggesting that the offers in this segment of the market simply weren't good enough.

Can Mike Yastrzemski or LaMonte Wade Jr. be optioned? Neither has been particularly productive for the Giants in 2022. Wade can't be optioned, which is a problem considering he has basically contributed nothing to the team this year. Yastzemski, as much as he has established himself at this point, can (and possibly will) be optioned. The Giants have a roster crunch coming up with four players set to return from injuries, and they'll have to make some difficult decisions.

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The best daily San Francisco Giants podcast. Whether the Giants are winning championships or retooling for another title run, Locked On Giants host Ben Kaspick—a lifelong Giants fan and former contributor for RotoGraphs and Beyond the Box Score—breaks down every game, rumor, and transaction in a way that's data-driven and rational but also simple, passionate, and accessible to all.

Follow Ben Kaspick on Twitter, where he’ll be sharing the latest news about the San Francisco Giants and talking with fans.

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