A’s, Giants both likely sellers at next week’s trade deadline. Who could leave?

With both of Northern California’s Major League Baseball teams struggling, each about 10 games out of a playoff spot, the Athletics and San Francisco Giants both appear likely to sell ahead of Monday’s looming MLB trade deadline.

Read more CA farmworkers report effects of ICE enforcement: less shopping, medical help

The deadline is the last time teams can trade members of their 40-man roster ahead of the postseason. In the days or even hours leading up to the 3 p.m. Pacific deadline, fans typically see playoff contenders attempt to fill the holes in their lineup or pitching staff through trades (these teams are known as buyers), with struggling teams (sellers) hoping to unload big contracts or get something out of a player likely to leave in free agency.

Contending teams often part with depth or top prospects — two things both the A’s and Giants, as sellers, will likely be looking for in their potential deals — in exchange for immediate help.

However, injuries to many of the A’s potential trade pieces and big contracts associated with many of the Giants’ likely sell candidates could limit the teams’ ability to unload at the deadline.

With the trade deadline less than a week away, here is a look at what the A’s and Giants could do.

A’s GM not looking to force a trade

Last year, the A’s made one of the biggest moves at the deadline by trading star closer Mason Miller — a widely speculated trade candidate again this year — and starter JP Sears to the San Diego Padres for a massive haul of prospects, including the club’s No. 1 prospect, shortstop Leo De Vries.

Coming into this season, the A’s were hoping to make a run at the playoffs with two of the team’s young cornerstones — Jacob Wilson and Tyler Soderstrom — agreeing to long-term deals, 2025 American League Rookie of the Year Nick Kurtz entering his sophomore season and a somewhat bolstered pitching staff.

A’s general manager David Forst last formally addressed the trade deadline in a news conference about two weeks ago, when he called the next few weeks “critical” for deciding the team’s trade deadline strategy, with hopes still held out that the A’s could make a run at the playoffs.

But that appears out of reach, now, as the 45-63 A’s sit 10 games out of a playoff spot and on pace to lose more than 90 games.

So, the A’s are back in the seller position about a year later, but without an obvious candidate on the block as Miller was last year.

That creates an interesting position for Forst, who in a Wednesday appearance on “A’s Cast” said that he didn’t “feel compelled” to make a trade simply because of the looming deadline.

“We have built this team for the long haul,” Forst said on A’s Cast. “I’m not looking to break this team up just because we’re not in a playoff race right now.”

Who could the A’s sell?

Previously rumored veteran trade candidates starter Aaron Civale and reliever Scott Barlow, who both signed with the A’s in the offseason, were released and have new teams.

Other veterans like lefty starter Jeffrey Springs, infielder Jeff McNeil and reliever Mark Leiter Jr. are unlikely to get dealt for various reasons. Springs leads the AL in losses (10) and home runs surrendered (27) and has given up the third most earned runs (72); McNeil holds a .642 OPS, well below a league average hitter this season; and Leiter is out for the season after undergoing hip surgery Tuesday.

All-Star catcher Shea Langeliers was also rumored as a potential trade candidate, but is now likely to miss the season after a successful knee surgery Tuesday on his torn right meniscus. The injury makes it less likely that the A’s would deal switch-hitting backup catcher Jonah Heim, who is on a one-year deal, since the club doesn’t have a clear option to replace him in the everyday role.

The rest of the A’s young core is unlikely to be dealt, either having years of team control remaining (Kurtz, J.T. Ginn), already being under long-term deals (Wilson, Soderstrom, Lawrence Butler), or having struggled or missed significant time this season (Denzel Clarke, Max Muncy, Jack Perkins).

That more or less only leaves outfielder Carlos Cortes as a likely trade candidate. After a solid start that got him mentioned on early All-Star Game fan voting results, Cortes has cooled off in his last 40 games, hitting below .200 with an OPS under .600. Overall, he holds a .769 OPS in 223 at-bats of his sophomore season.

The A’s already have a plethora of young outfielders, especially with Zack Gelof playing the corners more frequently, so dealing Cortes wouldn’t have a major impact on the team, while offering a solid platoon or depth bat to a contending team.

MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand last week listed Cortes in his 20 most likely players to get dealt at the deadline, alongside Leiter and Heim, whose statuses have shifted since publication.

ESPN’s top 100 trade candidates, compiled by Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel, only included three Athletics: Langeliers, Leiter and reliever Elvis Alvarado. Alvarado has showcased strong stuff in 30 appearances this season, but has been unable to limit walks and home runs as he holds a 5.06 ERA.

The Athletic’s “bold prediction” for the A’s at the deadline is that they would essentially do nothing.

Read more Coffee chain catering to drive-thru customers will open locations across Sacramento

Who would A’s want in return?

If the A’s do make any moves, they would likely target pitching depth, as MLB.com’s Martin Gallegos reported earlier this month.

None of the team’s consistent starters aside from Ginn — who is currently on the 15-day injured list with a blister — have a sub-4 ERA and many bullpen members have struggled

Those strugles have turned it, at points, into a revolving door between the big-league club and Triple-A Las Vegas.

Who is on and off the block for the Giants?

Unlike the A’s, the Giants have a plethora of realistic rumored trade candidates, with about eight names being circulated on various lists from MLB.com, ESPN and other outlets.

Notably, Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey said Rocklin-native ace Logan Webb was off the table in multiple media availabilities. On Sunday, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported that outfielder Jung Hoo Lee, who had been a rumored trade candidate, was also off the table, though Nightengale said 26-year-old former All-Star Heliot Ramos is available to be traded.

Star rookie first baseman Bryce Eldridge also appears unlikely to get dealt, as he has years of team control and appears to be a central piece for the Giants’ upcoming rebuild. However, Posey told the San Francisco Chronicle last week that he thought it was important to listen to offers and did not specifically note Eldridge as off the table.

With three of the Giants most valuable players off the board, that leaves two notable names widely considered very likely to be dealt before Monday: All-Star second baseman Luis Arraez and starter Robbie Ray.

Arraez, 29, leads the league with a .331 batting average to go along with an .817 OPS and 23 doubles as arguably the Giants’ best player. And he boosted his stats greatly in the Giants’ 16-3 win against the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday, going 4-for-5 with four singles and driving in two runs.

However, his contract expiring at the end of the season makes the three-time All-Star an easy trade candidate as the Giants hope to get some value in return for the veteran.

An ESPN analysis last week gave Arraez a 95% chance of getting traded, while the California Post listed both Arraez and Ray in a tier called “practically out the door.”

The only potential limiting factor to Arraez’s trade value is that he said over the All-Star break that he didn’t want to change positions if traded, after developing from one of the worst defensive second baseman to one of the best in recent years. That appears to be a small caveat, though.

Ray, 34, has a 3.16 ERA in 116 2/3 innings across 20 starts this season, making him one of the top left-handed starters expected to be available, especially with 2026 being the final season on a five-year contract Ray originally signed with the Seattle Mariners. Ray is a former Cy Young Award winner and is coming off his second All-Star selection in 2025.

Other Giants arms, including starter Tyler Mahle who dazzled in a six-inning, no-run win Monday, have been speculated as trade candidates as the club looks to trade veterans in for younger talent that could aid in their rebuild.

Another rumored trade candidate, infielder Casey Schmitt, who had been having a breakout 2026 campaign with a .784 OPS in 98 games, is likely off the block after landing on the injured list Tuesday with a torn left meniscus, according to the Giants.

Can the Giants unload their big 3 contracts?

Though Arraez, Ray and the various pitchers appear the most likely to be traded, the Giants are also reportedly interested in trying to dump one of their three long-term hitting contracts in Rafael Devers, Matt Chapman and Willy Adames.

Not counting their salaries for the remainder of this season, Chapman is still owed more than $100 million over the next four seasons, Devers is owed about $200 million through 2033 and Adames is making another $140 million over the next five seasons, according to Sportico.

Chapman has an OPS under .700 and Adames isn’t much better at .710. While Devers’ .790 OPS is second on the team only to Arraez to go along with a team-high 49 extra-base hits, his numbers are still significantly worse than the production his salary would typically entail as well as his time with the Boston Red Sox, where he made three All-Star appearances and won two Silver Slugger awards.

In a Monday article, The Athletic’s Grant Bisbee attempted to link some of these contracts to teams, naming the Atlanta Braves, Seattle Mariners and Philadelphia Phillies as potential landing spots, though he called the chances of these deals going through “really low.”

Passan and McDaniel for ESPN, however, listed Chapman as the 27th and Adames the 68th most likely players to get traded at the deadline. Mahle, Ray and Arraez were the only three Giants to make Feinsand’s top 20 most likely to get traded for MLB.com.

Read more Washington requests California’s assistance to fight ‘unprecedented’ fire season