Giants finalizing deal that sends Robbie Ray to Padres ahead of MLB trade deadline

Two and a half years after the Giants acquired him in one of the better trades in recent franchise history, Robbie Ray is on the move again.

This time, the deal sends the 34-year-old left-hander from San Francisco to San Diego in the fifth time he has been traded in his 13 years in the big leagues.

What it means for the Giants

Former team president Farhan Zaidi acquired Ray while he was still rehabbing from Tommy John and flexor tendon surgeries for the small price of Mitch Haniger and Anthony DeSclafani.

Zaidi’s successor, Buster Posey, can only hope the trade of Ray looks as good in retrospect as the deal to land him from the Mariners in the winter before the 2024 season.

Ray returned midway through 2024 and went on to go 24-16 with a 3.54 ERA in 60 starts for the Giants, even earning a trip to the All-Star Game last season in Atlanta.

DeSclafani appeared in 13 games since the trade with a 5.12 ERA. Haniger batted .208 with a .620 OPS for Seattle in 2024. The last professional game either appeared in was a relief appearance DeSclafani made for the Diamondbacks last September.

At the time, Ray filled an obvious need as the No. 2 to Logan Webb following the departures of Kevin Gausman and Carlos Rodon. He leaves without a clear candidate to take his place.

That said, the Giants aren’t building a rotation for this October, and the trade of Ray should clear the way for San Francisco to get a sense of what some younger arms can do over the final two months.

For now, Webb and Landen Roupp look like the only sure bets to lay claim to the five rotation spots heading into next year, and the picture got murkier with the news that Trevor McDonald would undergo surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow.

Carson Whisenhunt will get his first chance to pitch every fifth day at the big-league level, and Carson Seymour, Blake Tidwell, Joe Whitman and Matt “Tugboat” Wilkinson offer more options at Triple-A.

Adrian Houser, under contract for 2027, is likely to get another look as a starter after he was demoted to the bullpen only a few months into his two-year, $22 million contract.

Neither Wilkinson, part of the Patrick Bailey trade, nor Whitman, the 69th overall pick in 2023, are currently on the 40-man roster. But both pitchers must be added before this winter or risk being exposed to the Rule 5 draft.

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What it means for Robbie Ray

Ray joins the Padres and gets a chance to return to the postseason for the first time since 2022 and for the fourth time of his career with a fourth different team.

While Ray isn’t quite Tarik Skubal, who was traded to the rival Dodgers, he should give the Padres rotation a boost with an experienced left-handed arm who can be trusted to start a playoff game.

San Diego couldn’t acquire Ray at a better time. He has been the Giants’ most reliable starter all season but of late has a claim as the most effective starter anywhere in the sport.

In his past eight starts, Ray has allowed no more than one earned run once. No pitcher in the majors has a lower ERA since June 16 than Ray’s 1.09 mark.

After being drafted in the 12th round, Ray was traded as a prospect to the Tigers as part of the Doug Fister trade in 2013. He was dealt the following winter to the Diamondbacks, where he pitched for six seasons before being shipped to the Blue Jays in 2020.

Finally, Ray picked his own destination as a free agent in 2021, signing a five-year, $115 million contract with the Mariners but injured his elbow in the first start of his second season.

He went on to make nearly twice as many starts over the duration of the contract for the Giants (60) than the team that originally signed him to the deal (33).