Phillies’ perfect trade offer for Giants’ Rafael Devers

It looks like the Philadelphia Phillies are out on Tarik Skubal. And perhaps they have grown lukewarm on Seiya Suzuki. But there’s another name in the mix. And here is the Phillies’ perfect trade offer for the Giants’ Rafael Devers.

It seems like the Giants have run their course with Devers, according to a post on X by Buster Olney.

“The Giants are open to offers for their three highest-paid position players — Rafael Devers, Willy Adames, Matt Chapman — among other obvious trade candidates, like Luis Arraez and Robbie Ray.”

Why do the Phillies need IF Rafael Devers?

It hasn’t been a great season for Devers. His on-base percentage of .293 would be the worst mark of his 10-year major-league career. Does it mean that Devers is just having an extended slow start to the season? Or is he on the back side of being a big-time threat in a given team’s lineup?

The Phillies need all the help they can get on offense. Their team batting average of .229 is in a three-way tie for No. 27 in Major League Baseball. They aren’t getting on base, either. A .297 mark in that category puts them in the No. 28 spot in baseball.

So, would adding another struggling hitter make sense? Well, since it’s a guy like Devers, it may.

Over the last five seasons, Devers has had an on-base percentage of .347 or better every year. He’s only one year removed from a career-high .372 mark. Plus, he’s a legitimate 30-home run threat. He reached that mark four times in his career. And last year he finished with 35 homers and 109 RBIs.

All of the numbers point to Devers still being able to lift an offense. That is, assuming this isn’t his fall-off-the-radar year.

The Phillies have big-time bats like Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber. Brandon Marsh is having the best season of his career. However, Trea Turner, Alec Bohm, and Bryson Stott have struggled to get on base. The team needs a spark.

What would the Phillies’ perfect trade offer be?

Since Devers is pushing 30 years old, the Phillies need to be careful how much they give up for him. Still, the Giants won’t give him away.

Any deal would have to start with a top pitching prospect. Wen-Hui Pan might be the right guy. He’s about a year away from the big leagues, having been pushed back by Tommy John surgery in late 2024, according to MLB.com.

“The Phillies are excited to see how quickly Pan’s high-end stuff comes back now that he’s healthy again,” MLB.com wrote. “His fastball plays well with a good angle coming from a little higher slot, sitting in the 96-97 mph range and touching 99 with some ride before the surgery. He’s mostly a two-pitch guy, with a plus splitter that kills spin and gets a ton of swing-and-miss.

“Before the injury, Pan had made some good strides in his control and command. It doesn’t need to be pinpoint for him to land high-leverage innings in a big league bullpen in the future, something that could happen sooner rather than later if he can shake the TJ rust off.”

Guys like Pan can be very valuable as starting pitchers seem to throw fewer and fewer innings. But the Giants will demand a bat to replace Devers. Griffin Burkholder might pique their interest. He’s physical and athletic, according to MLB.com.

“It’s hard to not like Burkholder’s physicality and athleticism, and even with the lost year, he’ll play nearly all of 2026 at age 20,” MLB.com wrote. “He is capable of making very hard contact, registering high-end exit velocities when he’s been on the field, with at least plus raw power. He has made some swing adjustments and found better angles, but he struggled with his overall approach with too much swing-and-miss, particularly against breaking and offspeed stuff.

“Healthy again, Burkholder will hopefully be able to get back to using his speed well. He’ll turn in some 70-grade run times, but it doesn’t translate the same on the basepaths in terms of stolen bases.”

If a third player enters the Giants’ demand list, versatile Devin Saltiban might fill things out. His bat speed stands out, according to MLB.com.

“With a quick right-handed swing that generates plenty of bat speed, the 5-foot-9 Saltiban is capable of doing damage when he’s swinging well,” MLB.com wrote. “He can make loud contact with over-the-fence juice mostly to his pull side and is capable of driving the ball to all fields.

“Saltiban has plus speed and uses it efficiently on the basepaths, with 46 steals in 54 attempts in his career heading into 2026. He’s also back in the outfield, where he played in high school. The Phillies thought he had a chance to play second base, and while they’re not going to take him off the dirt entirely, they like how instinctive he looked in center field, where he played exclusively in Australia.”

If the Phillies are going to fix their offense this summer, Devers seems like the right player to pursue.

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