Madison Bumgarner might be the Giants' biggest trade deadline chip, but it sounds like San Francisco's other nasty left-hander has garnered the most interest.
With playoff baseball being all about the bullpens, contenders are looking to stock up on dominant relief arms at the trade deadline in order to buoy their hopes of winning the World Series.
There might not be a better reliever on the market than All-Star closer Will Smith, and at least 10 teams reportedly have called the Giants to check in on his availability, The Athletic's Jim Bowden reported Monday.
Smith, who has saved 24 of 26 games and has a 2.55 ERA with a 0.921 WHIP, has drawn interest from the Braves, Red Sox, Nationals, Phillies, Cardinals, Brewers, Cubs, Dodgers, Astros and Twins, according to Bowden.
Now, the extent of the talks is unknown, especially as the Giants continue to win and move up the NL wild-card standings. President of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi told reporters Sunday that he will always listen to trade offers, but it certainly sounded like the Giants had pulled back in their attempts to move Smith, Bumgarner and the like.
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That could change this week.
A losing stretch against the Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres likely would send the Giants firmly back into the sellers category and have teams burning up Zaidi's phone in hopes of landing a deal for Smith.
If 10 teams seriously have called to construct a deal for Smith, though, chances are the hard-throwing lefty won't be a Giant for much longer.
