The SF Giants had no choice but to deal at the 2026 MLB trade deadline, and Robbie Ray was one of the clearest names on the board. With the season already off the rails, San Francisco moved the pending free agent to the San Diego Padres, a club trying to stay in the Wild Card hunt.
Early on, the return is looking strong for the Giants.
The trade brought back right-hander Miguel Mendez and infielder Joniel Hernandez, and both have already given San Francisco reason to feel good about the deal. Mendez logged one start for the San Jose Giants, working 2 and 1/3 innings with two walks, one strikeout, and one earned run allowed. Since then, he has made three starts for Double-A Richmond, covering nine innings while giving up four earned runs with 12 strikeouts and three walks.
The strikeout numbers jump off the page. Mendez’s arm clearly has real life in it, and the production backs that up: he had 118 strikeouts in 95 innings last season and already has 53 strikeouts in 48 innings in 2026. It wouldn’t be a surprise if he reached the Giants at some point next season.
Hernandez may wind up being the bigger prize. He’s only 17 and is still playing in the Dominican Summer League, so there’s no reason to rush the conversation. Even so, he’s hit .343/.439/.629 with three home runs and eight runs batted in since joining the Giants.
Of course, it’s always dangerous to get too carried away with teenage shortstops. But San Francisco now has four of them in Joniel Hernandez, Josuar Gonzalez, Luis Hernandez, and Jhonny Level, and the hope is obvious: at least one turns into a legitimate big league piece.
The Giants would obviously have preferred to be the team making a deadline push for the postseason. Still, if the Padres only squeeze into the playoffs and exit quickly while San Francisco ends up looking like it stole the better end of the deal, the Giants will have every reason to feel like the winners here.
In Other News...
Giants Just Sent Ryan Walker A Message About This Bullpen
The Giants added another arm to their bullpen mix by claiming right-hander Joel Kuhnel off waivers from the Brewers and putting him on the Major League roster. To make the move work, they sent Ryan Walker to Triple-A Sacramento and shifted catcher Jesus Rodriguez to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man spot.
It is a notable reset for a relief group that has been under a microscope, especially with Kuhnel arriving without minor-league options. That leaves San Francisco no choice but to evaluate him right away at the big-league level, while Walker heads to Sacramento for a stretch that says plenty about how the Giants are trying to sort out the back end of the bullpen. [Read more 🡒]
Carson Seymour Is Giving The Giants A Bullpen Reason To Watch
Carson Seymours season has taken a sharp turn in the right direction, and the Giants have noticed. After a rough start, the right-hander has settled in over his last 10 relief outings, trimming his ERA to 1.38 while showing the kind of strike-throwing and bat-missing combination that can make a bullpen arm more than just an inning-eater. For a club always looking for reliable innings, especially from someone still carving out his place, that kind of progress matters.
Seymour came up as a starter in the minors, but this year he has been working as a multi-inning reliever for San Francisco, a role that asks for flexibility as much as stuff. The encouraging part for the Giants is not just the results, but the way he has gotten there: more strikeouts, fewer walks, and a simpler approach that seems to have unlocked a more consistent version of him. The larger question now is whether this recent stretch is the start of something sustainable or just a promising run in a crowded bullpen picture. [Read more 🡒]
Giants Young Players Just Got A Much Tougher Message From Vitello
Tony Vitellos first year at the helm has already made the message to the Giants young players pretty clear: chances are being handed out, but they will not be handed out forever. After a loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates, he stressed the need for execution and for players to make the most of the opportunities in front of them, a reminder that the club is still sorting through who can handle bigger roles as the season moves forward.
Vitello also drew a line between development and evaluation, and that is where the pressure starts to build for prospects getting early looks. The Giants are giving some younger players room to show what they can do, but nothing about those spots is settled, and poor stretches can open the door for someone else to step in. [Read more 🡒]