Where do Giants go after disappointing 22-34 start? It’s very, very complicated

SAN FRANCISCO — Tony Vitello is never at a loss for words, but he seemed to come close after Tuesday night’s game. Asked about the Giants’ fifth consecutive loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks, he stared down at the box score for about 10 seconds before fully diving into his answer. There were no answers on that sheet of paper, because for Vitello’s Giants, there have been no answers to be found over the first two months. Earlier in the day, Vitello brought all of the pitchers into his office for a rare meeting. The group then went out and walked six in a loss that wasted a rare solid day for the lineup.On Wednesday, the Giants suffered one of their worst losses of the year, falling to 0-6 against a division rival that isn’t any more talented. They sit 12 games under .500 and history tells a simple story: Only two teams have ever lost 34 of their first 56 games and made the postseason.The latest disappointing homestand led up to a 10-game trip that will continue to test a team that has been unable to find any sense of momentum. When the Giants finally return to Oracle Park, it will be the second week of June, and that’s about when you start to see player movement pick up. A year ago at this time, Buster Posey and Zack Minasian were preparing to make a move for Rafael Devers. The 2026 Giants look like clear sellers, and in recent weeks, it has been easy for fans and some in the media to call for a full rebuild. That’s much, much more difficult than it sounds, though.This ownership group, most of which goes back to the early 1990s, has never accepted the concept of a rebuild. In the early years, the goal was to be competitive to help the push for a new ballpark. Since 2000, the focus has been on making sure Oracle Park remains full, or close to it, and that’s why it’s important to note what was seen off the field during the homestand.The Giants went 2-4 and continued to give fans on social media plenty of reasons to grumble. But they also drew 221,890 fans, raising their season average to 37,635, an increase of about 1,500 from last year and the sixth-highest average in MLB. This is ugly baseball, but people are still paying handsomely to watch, and that’s important to remember when discussing what’s next.Even if the Giants wanted to make deep cuts to this roster — and there are no indications yet that they do — they would be heavily restricted. Their biggest issue this season has been the lack of production from a group that was supposed to form a “big three.” Devers, Matt Chapman and Willy Adames have combined for 0.7 fWAR this season and none are above league-average at the plate by wRC+. They also are owed a combined &dollar;451 million after this season, a sum that hangs over every move the Giants contemplate. Chapman and Adames have full no-trade clauses, an important note to always keep in mind. The Giants’ future salary commitments are gruesome, but it actually could be worse in a way. There’s an alternate universe in which the Giants are still on the hook for nine years of Carlos Correa’s contract.Correa’s unprecedented free agency ended with a return to the Minnesota Twins and later a trade to the Houston Astros, and that latter transaction is important to study if you’re of the opinion that the Giants should just eat the money on some of these long-term deals and blow things up.Last July, the Twins sent Correa back to Houston in what was essentially a salary dump. They got a 26-year-old A-ball pitcher in return and released him a few months later. For Minnesota, the entire value in that deal was in getting out from under &dollar;71 million owed to Correa, and they included a whopping &dollar;33 million to make it more palatable for the Astros.On the surface, that seems like something the Giants could do at some point, but if you dig deeper you see just how much had to go right for that transaction to reach the finish line. The Twins were for sale and tore it down at the deadline, trading not just Correa, but most of their bullpen, including closer Jhoan Duran and righty Griffin Jax. In Houston, they found perhaps the only team willing to take on even &dollar;70 million for Correa, who starred there for the first seven years of his career. Correa was thrilled and immediately agreed to move to third base to make things smoother. There were a lot of reasons the Twins were able to thread that needle, and they picked the perfect time. Even if the Giants wanted to do the same thing a year later, it seems unlikely they would find anything close to that kind of situation, especially with the uncertainty of a lockout looming.Any blockbuster would be complicated, but the Giants should still have moves to make. Luis Arraez has been one of the best players in the National League and is on a one-year deal. He has exceeded even the most optimistic expectations, especially on defense, but a trade should still be a no-brainer for the Giants as the summer goes on. The Giants have a ready-made replacement in Casey Schmitt, their best hitter this season, and long-term, they’ll need flexibility on the dirt. Once Bryce Eldridge graduates from prospect lists, their top four minor leaguers will be middle infielders.The easiest thing to move at the deadline is pitching, and the Giants will be somewhat involved in that market. Robbie Ray is a free agent at the end of the year and should appeal to contenders, but his value is currently at a low after three straight rough starts.The Giants are going to have to rebuild their bullpen in the offseason anyway, so if someone has interest in one of their relievers, they shouldn’t hesitate to make a move. There are plenty of experienced relief options in Triple-A to fill the gaps. Harrison Bader has been traded at the deadline twice in his career, and it’s possible that’s again an option.The Giants didn’t intend to sell last year, but an awful homestand at the end of July cleared the path, and they have generally gotten solid returns in their trades. Another round would add depth to what could be a top-five farm system by the end of the season.Teenagers Josuar Gonzalez, Luis Hernandez and Jhonny Level are all top 75 prospects already, and it shouldn’t be long before they’re rated as highly as Eldridge has been. There are people around the game who believe Gonzalez could soon be in the mix for No. 1 overall, and the Giants will add more talent in July’s draft. That brings us to one more reason why there’s not much use in tanking at any point this season.In December’s lottery, the Giants moved up to the fourth spot in this year’s draft. The Roch Cholowsky rumors are vastly overblown — the front office is simply doing due diligence — but they still should add a top-tier talent and the Patrick Bailey trade gave them an additional pick and the extra bonus money that comes with it.This should be a draft that helps the franchise get back on track one day, but there was one unexpected downside to moving from the 15th pick all the way up to four. The Giants currently have the third-worst record in baseball, but MLB’s anti-tanking rules keep large-market teams from getting a lottery pick in consecutive years. No matter how many games the Giants lose the rest of the way, they can’t pick higher than 10th next draft.It’s an interesting twist, and like a lot of what has gone on, it’s something the Giants never expected to be thinking about so soon in the 2026 season. Download and follow the Giants Talk Podcast

Where do Giants go after disappointing 22-34 start? It’s very, very complicated

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