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The San Francisco Giants were among the busiest teams in Major League Baseball ahead of Monday’s trade deadline. They got things kicked off by moving off of Luis Arraez, arguably their biggest trade chip. But that was just the beginning.
The Giants ended up shipping out starting pitcher Robbie Ray and outfielder Heliot Ramos. In return, the Giants may have very well won the trade deadline with the sheer amount of young talent acquired.
So, let’s get into just who the Giants landed and what they have to offer San Francisco.
IF Marcelo Mayer
Age: 23 | Level: MLB | System rank: N/A
Acquired: From Boston for LHP Erik Miller and MiLB OF Carlos Gutierrez
MLB stats (2025-26): 114 G, .223/.278/.346, 7 HR, 18 2B, 23.4 K%, 6.6 BB%
MiLB stats (2021-25): 315 G, .274/.360/.466, 46 HR, 86 2B, 23.0 K%, 11.7 BB%
In a deadline that saw multiple former No. 1 overall draft picks on the move (Adley Rutschman, Casey Mize) and a package of prospects going back for last year’s Cy Young winner (Tarik Skubal), Mayer ranks right up there with anybody traded in terms of pedigree.
Mayer was regarded as one of Red Sox “Big Three” prospects, who all ranked among the top 20 in baseball entering last season. The sheen has worn off after a tough go of it in Mayer’s introduction to the big leagues, but the Giants “feel like [we] can get him back on track to where he was trending a couple of years ago,” president Buster Posey said.
Mayer is currently recovering from a stress reaction, but when he is healthy expect him to report to the big-league club and get a longer runway at second base than he ever got in Boston.
“I could envision him doing a lot of things, based off his history,” manager Tony Vitello said. “[He] just hasn’t had a great runway as far as staying healthy or getting consistent repetitions. It’s tough for someone to show what they can actually do until they have that runway.”
There were some reports out of Boston that the Red Sox were concerned about Mayer’s availability due to what were perceived as minor injuries. He hasn’t played more than 80 games since 2022 and never played more than 91 since he was drafted fourth overall out of Eastlake High in Chula Vista, the same high school Casey Schmitt attended a few years earlier.
“We see Mayer as a guy that’s struggled with injuries a bit the last couple of years,” Posey said. “Our group really likes the swing. … It’s a position player that can play shortstop, play second base, play third base. [He] gives you flexibility. Still believe there’s a lot of upside there.”
RHP Ramon Marquez
Age: 20 | Level: High-A | System rank: No. 7
Acquired: From Philadelphia (with RHP Marty Gair) for 2B Luis Arraez, RHP Caleb Kilian
MiLB stats (2026): 12 G (11 GS), 59 IP, 1.68 ERA, 14.2 K/9, 2.9 BB/9
Of the three highly regarded pitching prospects the Giants acquired, Marquez was the one Posey chose to single out on his own accord in a conference call with reporters.
“He was one that our scouts had flagged early on in this process and a guy that we weren’t sure that we were going to have access to,” Posey said, calling the fringe top-100 prospect “a starting pitcher that’s going to slot up in the top of our system going forward.”
Marquez signed out of Mexico for a signing bonus of only $10,000 last January but was considered one of the biggest breakout prospects this season.
He pairs a fastball that sits in the mid-90s and reaches 98 mph with a slider-ish cutter, but his best pitch is his changeup, which MLB Pipeline dubbed “one of the best in the minors.” Baseball America called him the Phillies’ No. 4 prospect and “a future big league mid-rotation starter.”
LHP Henry Lalane
Age: 22 | Level: High-A | System rank: No. 9
Acquired: From New York [AL] (with IF Kaeden Kent) for OF Heliot Ramos
MiLB stats (2026): 16 G (15 GS), 78 IP, 2.77 ERA, 11.3 K/9, 3.0 BB/9
Shoulder surgery derailed the 6-foot-7 southpaw the past two seasons, but back healthy this year, in the words of Baseball America, “his stuff has returned to the form that once made him one of the most intriguing prospects in the lower levels of the minors.”
The Giants liked him enough to part with an outfielder who was an All-Star only two years ago and still had three more years of team control before he would reach free agency.
Lalane gets his size and athleticism from his father, who played basketball professionally in Europe. His fastball sits in the mid-90s but his strongest pitches are his two offspeeds, a deceptive changeup and a sweeping slider. Posey described him as an “upside” starting pitcher.
“It has been a focus to try to add some starting pitching to the system that we think can help us in the next couple of years,” Posey said. “We felt like Lalane fit that mold for us.”
RHP Miguel Mendez
Age: 24 | Level: Double-A | System rank: No. 14
Acquired: From San Diego (with IF Joniel Hernandez) for LHP Robbie Ray and cash
MiLB stats (2026): 12 G (12 GS), 35 ⅔ IP, 4.93 ERA, 9.9 K/9, 4.4 BB/9
Although he has mostly been a starting pitcher in the minor leagues, Mendez’s injury history and arsenal could make him a candidate to join Randy Rodriguez in the back end of the Giants’ bullpen as early as next season. He pairs a fastball that regularly reaches triple digits with a wipeout slider that led FanGraphs to offer Edwin Diaz as a possible best-case comparison.
Shoulder troubles had kept Mendez off the mound since June 17, but he returned to throw one scoreless inning at High-A before the Giants’ acquired him. Before reporting to an affiliate, he’ll head to Arizona so that the GIants’ medical staff can give him a thorough examination.
IF Joniel Hernandez
Age: 17 | Level: Rookie | System rank: No. 21
Acquired: From San Diego (with Mendez) for Ray and cash
MiLB stats (2026): 42 G, .316/.439/.519, 4 HR, 16 2B, 15.8 K%, 17.3 BB%
Tony Vitello knew some portion of the prospects acquired through his college connections, but obviously that doesn’t include Hernandez, who’s still the age of a high school senior.
Still, when a reporter mentioned the young Cuban in passing, Vitello perked up.
“Now,” he said, “that one’s interesting.”
Hernandez signed for a $1.4 million bonus this past January, when MLB.com rated him the No. 13 prospect in the international signing class. His combination of quick hands and projectable frame gave him “one of the highest offensive upsides in the 2026 class,” according to his blurb.
The teenager joins a crowded crop of young shortstop prospects that headline the Giants’ system, two levels below fellow 17-year-old Luis Hernandez and Josuar Gonzalez at Single-A San Jose and three behind Jhonny Level, who has a ton of new teammates at High-A Eugene.
IF Kaeden Kent
Age: 22 | Level: High-A | System rank: No. 22
Acquired: From New York [AL] (with Lalane) for Ramos
MiLB stats (2026): 76 G, .302/.359/.433, 6 HR, 20 SB, 16.1 K%, 8.2 BB%
Last Sunday, Kent was in Cooperstown watching his dad go into the Hall of Fame. Eight days later, he was traded to the organization whose logo appears on the cap on Jeff Kent’s plaque.
It is purely a coincidence, Posey insisted, that the acquisition of a Kent came less than a month after the Giants drafted Barry Bonds’ nephew, Peyton, in the third round.
“We like Kaeden Kent and Peyton Bonds for the players that they are,” Posey said, highlighting Kent’s contact ability from the left side with “a swing we really like.”
RHP Marty Gair
Age: 23 | Level: High-A | System rank: N/A
Acquired: From Philadelphia (with Marquez) for Arraez and Kilian
MiLB stats (2026): 30 G (19 GF), 36 IP, 4.50 ERA, 6 SV, 16.5 K/9, 5.5 BB/9
A power arm from a small college (Florida SouthWestern State) that has produced one major-leaguer with a positive WAR (Joel Piñeiro). Fastball reaches 102 mph, which has produced almost two strikeouts per inning but with a walk rate that would fit right in with the current Giants’ bullpen (noncomplimentary) at a level where he is an older prospect.
RHP Anthony Molina
Age: 24 | Level: Triple-A | System rank: N/A
Acquired: From Atlanta for RHP Tyler Mahle
MLB stats (2024-26): 55 G (29 GF), 99 ⅓ IP, 6.89 ERA, 6.1 K/9, 2.6 BB/9
MiLB stats (2019-26): 116 G (69 GS), 425 ⅔ IP, 4.12 ERA, 7.6 K/9, 2.6 BB/9
Most of his innings in the majors came in Colorado, which could be one reason for his poor numbers. Not much in terms of stuff but at least finds the strike zone more often than most of the Giants’ current staff. Will report to Triple-A Sacramento and could either be a 40-man roster casualty this winter or a candidate for a low-leverage/long-relief job in the 2027 bullpen.
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