The San Francsico Giants' downward spiral continued last night with a humiliating 7-0 loss to the last-place Arizona Diamondbacks. The Giants don't look like a competitive team right now, and their playoffs odds are down to about 33%, according to FanGraphs. The trade deadline is officially one week away, and the big question for the Giants is: what should they do?

Should they be sellers? There's certainly a case to make for it. Carlos Rodón would be arguably the best starting pitcher available. It's a sellers' market; there are more teams than ever in the race thanks to an expanded postseason field, and the supply of starting pitchers is thin. MLB.com's Mike Petriello wrote about this very topic this morning, and the pros and cons are discussed. Joc Pederson would also have some value as a rental platoon bat.

But there's also a case for the SF Giants to buy. Juan Soto is out there, and he isn't a rental. He is under club control through 2024, and he might help the Giants make a run to the playoffs this year. However, if you're giving up the type of talent it would take to land Soto (FanGraphs' Dan Szymborski suggests Kyle Harrison, Marco Luciano, Luis González, and Heliot Ramos in addition to taking on all of Patrick Corbin's contract), the Giants shouldn't stop there. They should also target a catcher (Willson Contreras?), an infielder with a good glove (Joey Wendle?), and bullpen help (the Tigers have several good options). But then you've depleted your farm system and still might not be good enough to make the playoffs.

Yes, indeed, the Giants are in a tough situation. This season has been a big disappointment, and missing the playoffs while declining to sell of a desirable asset like Rodón would probably be the worst outcome of all. More will be revealed in the next week. For now, the Giants just need to play better baseball and win some games.

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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.

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