The San Francisco Giants appear to be casting a wide net on potential upgrades ahead of Friday's trade deadline, with president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi even checking in on a division-rival's best player.
Jon Morosi of MLB.com reports that in addition to the New York Yankees, the Giants are interested in Colorado Rockies shortstop Trevor Story. Morosi added that the sweepstakes for the two-time All-Star have "become more active in the last 24 hours."
Story being traded to the Giants would be a bit of an odd fit on a few levels. First of all, the Rockies -- who traded Nolan Arenado before the season and seemingly don't believe that they have to trade Story -- would probably prefer to move the most popular player on their team to another division. Beyond that, Story would have to play another position at least for the rest of the season, because Brandon Crawford, one of the most beloved players in franchise history, is currently entrenched at shortstop for the Giants.
Still, both Zaidi and Giants manager Gabe Kapler worked together in the Los Angeles Dodgers front office. The Dodgers have had sustained success -- and won a World Series a year ago -- using players like Kiké Hernandez, Max Muncy and Cody Bellinger at a variety of positions. It's not hard to imagine, then, that the Giants could envision a scenario where Story plays in the outfield and/or at second base for the remainder of the season as the Giants try to fend off the Dodgers and San Diego Padres in the National League West. After the season, when both Crawford and Story can become free agents, the Giants would have to decide who they would want to move forward with at shortstop.
Story has never played a position other than shortstop at the major league level, although there's no reason to believe he couldn't be an adequate outfielder and/or second baseman on an interim basis. That said, former National League MVP Kris Bryant -- who the Giants are reportedly also interested in -- has extensive experience in the outfield and at third base, so he may make more sense for San Francisco.
At 63-37, the Giants surprisingly own baseball's best record. They're certainly helped by the fact that Kevin Gausman and Anthony DeSclafani are having career years in the rotation, but the trio of Buster Posey, Evan Longoria (when he's been healthy) and the aforementioned Crawford are all having renaissance seasons.
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