Giants Kick Off Trade Deadline Sell-Off, Send Tyler Mahle to Braves

The San Francisco Giants' trade deadline sell-off started Sunday night, with Major League Baseball's deadline set for 6 p.m. ET Monday.

San Francisco sent 31-year-old right-hander Tyler Mahle to the Atlanta Braves for right-handed pitching prospect Anthony Molina, according to the New York Post. The move was first reported by FanSided's Robert Murray, per Sports Illustrated.

Mahle signed a one-year, $10 million deal with the Giants over the winter, a signing influenced by former Giants and Rangers manager Bruce Bochy, who now serves as a special advisor to president of baseball operations Buster Posey, according to Sports Illustrated. Bochy managed Mahle in Texas in 2024 and 2025, when the right-hander posted a 2.18 ERA over 16 starts last season.

Mahle finishes his Giants tenure at 3-9 with a 5.13 ERA over 18 starts. His home run rate nearly tripled from a year ago, according to TSN. His final outing came Saturday against the Padres: five hits, five earned runs, and nine strikeouts over 5.2 innings in a no-decision.

He did pitch better in July, going 2-1 with a 2.82 ERA including six shutout innings against Milwaukee, the Post reported. That stretch is likely why Atlanta pursued the deal.

The Braves needed the depth badly. Atlanta is without Spencer Strider, who could miss the rest of the season with elbow inflammation suffered in June; Spencer Schwellenbach, still working back from February surgery to remove bone spurs; and Reynaldo Lopez, placed on the injured list Sunday with left knee inflammation, according to TSN. Despite all that, the Braves have held first place in the NL East since April 8 and lead the second-place Phillies by eight games, per TSN.

In return, San Francisco gets Molina, a 24-year-old righty with a fastball sitting around 97 mph who has worked as both a starter and reliever. He made his MLB debut with Colorado in 2024 and has thrown three relief innings for Atlanta this season, with a 3.78 ERA over 17 Triple-A outings, TSN reported.

A Bigger Sell-Off Is Expected

Mahle was described by outlets covering the deal as an appetizer. The Giants are 47-55 (the Post) or 47-65 (TSN) depending on the count at time of reporting, sitting well outside playoff position under first-year manager Tony Vitello, a hire who came from the college ranks at Tennessee.

San Francisco is on track to miss the playoffs for a fifth straight season, according to TSN, and that reality is driving the front office to move veterans beyond Mahle. Second baseman Luis Arraez, an All-Star, and left-hander Robbie Ray, the 2021 AL Cy Young winner, are the two names repeatedly mentioned as trade candidates by the Post, TSN, and Sports Illustrated alike.

Buster Posey's approach has been patience, not panic. The Post reported that Posey and his front office "hunkered down" in their Oracle Park offices rather than rushing deals, betting that waiting until the deadline's final hours would push up the offers as contenders got desperate.

Arrayez, who'd been out Saturday with lower-body cramps, was back in the leadoff spot Sunday and played the full game, flying out in what might have been his last at-bat as a Giant. "I'm just trying to do my job during the game," Arraez said, according to the Post. "I just go out there and compete. I don't want to think about the trade deadline or anything. If San Francisco trades me, I'll go do my job."

Vitello didn't pull any trade candidates from Sunday's lineup, a contrast to the Angels benching pitcher Jose Soriano on Saturday to avoid injury risk before a possible deal, per the Post. Outfielder Heliot Ramos, also mentioned in trade chatter despite three more years of team control, played all nine innings as well.

Vitello, new to the pro deadline circus, compared it to the college transfer portal he navigated at Tennessee, saying the portal is "a lot more emotional, and it's a lot more chaotic," according to the Post. He acknowledged he doesn't have full visibility into what Posey's front office is doing, saying players around the league text him assuming he controls the trades. "Our guys don't have complete control over it either," he said.

What's Still Unresolved

Whether Arraez and Ray actually get moved by Monday's 6 p.m. ET deadline is still an open question. Around the Foghorn speculated the Giants and Braves could reunite on Ray, given Atlanta's rotation issues and existing familiarity between the two clubs, potentially in exchange for pitching prospects like Blake Burkhalter and Ethan Bagwell, though that report is speculative team-building analysis, not a reported deal.

The Dodgers landed two-time AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal from the Tigers for three prospects Saturday night. Freddy Peralta and Luis Castillo also moved to the Rays and White Sox respectively, according to the Post. Whether San Francisco extracts equivalent value for Arraez and Ray before Monday's deadline will determine how this rebuild actually looks heading into 2027.