James Tibbs III of the San Francisco Giants bats during the fourth inning of a spring training Spring Breakout game against the Texas Rangers at Scottsdale Stadium in Scottsdale, Ariz., on March 15, 2025.
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As the San Francisco Giants were selling off three longtime stalwarts from their major league roster, their rivals made a curious move and picked up a recent Giants first-round pick.
Just before Thursday’s trade deadline, the Dodgers sent pitcher Dustin May to the Boston Red Sox and picked up two outfield prospects: Zach Ehrhard and James Tibbs III.
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If you’re a Giants fan, you may remember Tibbs as the top prospect whom the Giants dealt to the Red Sox in the blockbuster trade for Rafael Devers on June 15. Tibbs went to Boston alongside MLB pitchers Jordan Hicks and Kyle Harrison and minor league pitcher Jose Bello.
Tibbs became a top prospect in the 2024 MLB Draft after a dominant junior season at Florida State, batting .363 with 28 homers and 95 RBI in just 66 games for the Seminoles. While he wasn’t considered a strong defender and just plays the corner outfield positions and first base, the Giants took him with the No. 13 overall pick in 2024, and Farhan Zaidi, the Giants president of baseball operations at the time, gave Tibbs a $4.75 million signing bonus.
But Zaidi was fired in September, and Buster Posey, the current Giants president of baseball operations, dealt Tibbs away to the Red Sox before the player had even completed a full year with the Giants organization. Now that the Dodgers have snagged Tibbs, many people have noted how Zaidi is back with the Dodgers front office in an advisory role.
While Zaidi’s tenure in San Francisco didn’t go very well, he had been renowned for helping the Dodgers develop role players into All-Stars, such as Chris Taylor and Max Muncy. So you can understand how many Giants fans saw the Dodgers trading for Tibbs and quickly envisioned the worst-case scenario: the former Giants prospect helping the Dodgers keep ahead of San Francisco.
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As for how that Giants trade for Devers is going? San Francisco has had the worst record in baseball (13-24) since making the trade and, just 6.5 weeks after the massive blockbuster to add a superstar, decided to be sellers at the trade deadline on Thursday.
The Giants are returning to action on Friday without relievers Tyler Rogers (traded to Mets) and Camilo Doval (dealt to Yankees) and outfielder Mike Yastrzemski (shipped to Royals).
Aug 1, 2025
