One Trade the San Francisco Giants May Already Be Regretting

To get talent in trade you must trade talent. The San Francisco Giants knew they were going to pay a stiff price to acquire Rafael Devers in 2025.

The trade between the Giants and the Boston Red Sox was a seismic deal in 2025. it was the first major in-season trade of the season. Devers, disgruntled in Boston after being moved from third base to designated hitter and then being asked to play first base, took the deal, even though he would have to play first base in San Francisco. The Giants wanted his power and were willing to take on his massive contract.

But San Francisco knew it had to give Boston talent in return. For Devers, the Giants gave up pitchers Kyle Harrison, Jordan Hicks and Jose Bello, along with right field prospect James Tibbs III.

You need a flow chart to figure out how the Giants might already regret this trade, even though Devers has hit back-to-back 30-home run seasons for San Francisco.

Do Giants Regret This Deal?

Start with Harrison. Boston shipped him to Milwaukee in February, and the Brewers unlocked something in Harrison that the Giants could not. Harrison went 11-5 with a 4.20 ERA in 28 games, including 24 starts. Harrison and the Brewers are heading to the World Series and Game 1 starts on Friday night. He’s found a new home, new-found success and could have some jewelry coming his way.

San Francisco spent big money to sign Hicks to a free agent deal before the 2024 season with the idea of turning the reliever into a starter. It just didn't work. San Francisco was more than happy to include Hicks as part of the deal and get him off their payroll. Boston wasn’t interested in keeping him either. The Red Sox traded him to the Chicago White Sox, which should have been purgatory.

Instead, Chicago helped him figure things out. Back to being a full-time reliever, Hicks went 3-2 with a 3.94 ERA in 53 games for the White Sox, who made the American League playoffs just two years after setting the record for the worst season in MLB history. He never came close to pitching that well for San Francisco.

But Tibbs could be the unkindest cut. The Giants selected him in the first round of the 2024 MLB draft. Trading the outfielder was the cost of doing business to get Devers. But six weeks later the Red Sox flipped Tibbs in a trade to, of all teams, the Los Angeles Dodgers.

It now appears Tibbs could haunt San Francisco for years to come. With Triple-A Oklahoma City in 2025 he slashed .287/.409/.532 with 30 home runs and 107 RBI. He's on the doorstep of joining the major leagues and giving the Dodgers another power source in the outfield.

It's hard to have that much regret when you acquire a slugger like Devers. But when what you give up goes to a World Series, reclaims his stuff and is on the doorstep of being a thorn in your organization's side for years, yeah, there's a little regret.