Don’t be surprised if the Giants’ trade deadline strategy is unorthodox

It is possible the San Francisco Giants can get back in this thing, you know. There’s more than a month between now and the trade deadline, and that’s plenty. They’re only 7 1/2 games out of the final wild-card spot. Where’s your faith?

No, I don’t believe this will happen either, and I realize that it’s impossible to read that paragraph in a voice other than the cheerleader from “Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” but the Giants have come back from longer odds. They were 7 1/2 games out on July 4, 2010, when Bruce Bochy used Eli Whiteside to pinch-run for Buster Posey. I was on the internet that day, and I can assure you that there had been NO greater crime committed against the game of baseball in the sport’s history to that point. The Giants ended up being fine that season. So, yes, goofier things have happened.

For the moment, though, let’s assume the Giants will sell. The doubleheader sweep of the Braves was impressive, but it was about a 10th of the way toward a definitive statement. They’re now second in baseball in batting average (!) and sixth in adjusted OPS (!!), but they’re also 29th in adjusted ERA. There’s no way to find enough pitching to be a postseason team, not in June, and not with this much of a deficit.

If the Giants sell, it shouldn’t be a huge teardown, though. You figure that teams will be all over Luis Arraez, who can fit on every contending team from now until 2040, give or take, and Robbie Ray, who is pitching well enough to attract attention. They’ll make their higher-paid players available, but you shouldn’t expect them to be traded.

And that’s the story of a mostly quiet, extremely predictable deadline.

Perhaps.

When I read Jim Bowden’s recent survey of team needs, though, there were a few types of players who kept coming up. Outfielders were on the lists for four contending teams. Five other teams were looking for hitters, with no position specified. And a whopping 10 teams were looking for bullpen help of any variety, which seems like it could even be a low estimate.

The Giants would really be in the ol’ catbird’s seat if they had some of those players to trade. Instead, they have one infielder (there wasn’t a single team looking for one in Bowden’s article) and a starting pitcher (who will be popular). They don’t have the kind of roster that will make their phones ring off the hook.

Except, hear me out, what if the Giants actually did have some of those players to trade?

We can get the obvious candidates out of the way. There are so many teams looking for relievers that it’s entirely plausible, if not likely, that teams start poking around the Giants’ bullpen. Before you scoff, consider that the Giants once traded Trevor Rosenthal to the Brewers for Tristan Peters. Rosenthal never threw a pitch for either team, and Peters is now looking like a long-term fixture in the outfield — for the White Sox because the Giants traded him for Brett Wisely.

That’s not the point, though. The point is that teams can be so desperate for bullpen help that they’ll trade real prospects for relievers who might not even be healthy. So, yes, if they think there’s something that will work with literally any of the Giants’ relievers, from the veterans like Sam Henges and Matt Gage to some of the pre-arbitration arms, like Caleb Kilian or Keaton Winn, a team might have some interest. You’d better believe that at least one playoff-bound team is arrogant enough to think it can fix Ryan Walker and his weird, wormy pitches. I’ll bet they’re right, too.

That doesn’t mean the Giants are looking to trade from the bullpen just to trade from it. It also doesn’t mean that a deal is likely. It’s a way for the Giants to sneak into a lot of conversations, that’s for sure, especially with teams like the Rays, Brewers and Guardians, who love their team control and modestly priced relievers. The Giants don’t exactly have Mason Miller to dangle, but there’s enough to keep an eye on at the deadline.

Beyond that, though, consider what we know about the Giants heading into next season:

• They’ll likely still have Matt Chapman.

• Their highly regarded prospects will be a year closer to the majors, including infielders like Jhonny Level and Gavin Kilen in the upper levels, and a variety of absurdly talented teenagers below them. That group could get bigger after the draft, with the Giants possibly interested in some high school infielders with the No. 4 pick.

• They’ll have two right-handed hitting outfielders — Jonah Cox and Victor Bericoto — with experience in the majors and the opportunity to stick. They’ll also have right-handed jacks-of-all-trades Jesús Rodríguez and Parks Harber in the mix for both infield and outfield positions.

Considering all of the above, would it be completely bananas to entertain trade offers for Casey Schmitt?

Considering all of the above, would it be completely bananas to entertain trade offers for Heliot Ramos?

Before you answer, ponder the long-term futures of each with the franchise. Schmitt is having a nice season, but he’s 27 and will start making real money in arbitration after this season. That doesn’t mean he’s a hot potato the Giants need to get rid of — he’s not a free agent until after the 2029 season — but at some point, it won’t be so easy to assume his production will be worth the cost. This might be a way to trade him at a relative high point in his value, like the Brewers did with Caleb Durbin. (They got Kyle Harrison back in that trade, of course. Maybe we should stop looking at what happens to Giants prospects after they leave.)

Now consider Ramos. Or, more specifically, consider his profile: He’s a lefty-mashing power hitter who shouldn’t be playing in the outfield if a team can help it. That doesn’t mean he’s without value to the Giants for the next couple seasons — it always feels like he’s so close to reaching another level of performance, too — but it’s not a profile that organizations typically commit to long-term. There are exceptions, but right-handed corner outfielders with iffy defense need to hit 30 or 40 homers a year to get a long-term contract.

The Guardians, though, haven’t developed an outfielder who has hit more than eight home runs in the majors since Manny Ramirez. I just made that up, but I’m not going to check it because it feels true. They also just lost two young outfielders (Chase DeLauter and Angel Martínez) to the injured list, along with some guy named José Ramírez. Even before that, they always seemed to be looking for a little power, especially in the outfield or at DH. But they’re kinda cheap, and they wouldn’t mind someone under team control for a couple more years. Here’s a guy.

The Phillies aren’t especially cheap, but they could also use an outfielder after the Adolis García injury, and they’re not going to turn cost savings away. They’re also willing to move pieces around the infield for the right player, say a right-handed power threat like Schmitt.

There’s no sense in doing this for every team over a month before the deadline, but you get the idea. It’ll be a boring trade deadline unless the Giants get creative, but that might be easier than expected. They have young, valuable players who might be affordable and valuable for a few more seasons … but not so affordable and not so valuable that the Giants were ever going to build around them. There could be a fit somewhere.

I am not endorsing this idea, mostly because I’m wholly ignorant of what kind of prospects a team could actually get for near-arbitration players like Schmitt or Ramos these days. This ain’t a garage sale, you jackals. Hands off unless you’re coughing up top-100 guys.

If either player starts attracting that kind of interest, though, the Giants would have to listen. They’ll get something for Arraez if they choose, and they’ll make a team more comfortable with Ray. But it might be the players they don’t have to trade who make the biggest splash of all. It’s not likely, but it makes a certain amount of sense. The organization is caught between long-term contracts that they are unlikely to move and a young farm system that’s both a) getting close and b) not quite ready yet. Players like Ramos and Schmitt could help bridge that gap, but they could also have more value to a contending team in the meantime.

It probably won’t happen, and if you’re a fan (or family member) of either player, please don’t take this as a projection, prediction, suggestion or call to action. It’s just something that might make sense for a franchise that doesn’t. They should consider anything at this point.