Blockbuster Mock Trade Sends $60 Million Home Run Derby Star To Giants

FanSided’s Quinn Everts recently pitched a hypothetical mock trade that would send Athletics slugger Brent Rooker to the San Francisco Giants in exchange for top prospects Carson Whisenhunt and Dakota Jordan.

“In this deal, the Giants get Rooker, while the Athletics get Whisenhunt (No. 2 Giants prospect) and Jordan (No. 5 Giants prospect), two guys who should be able to help a big league club within the next few years,” Everts wrote. “On a team with young talent like the A’s, that timeline might fit a little better than Rooker’s does.

“Granted, with the Giants farm system not being particularly strong, there might be better offers for Rooker out there. I doubt San Francisco would sacrifice its sole MLB Top 100 prospect (Bryce Eldridge) for Rooker, even though the Athletics might demand him in a deal. This hypothetical deal gets the A’s two promising prospects to add to their farm while the Giants get the offensive upside they’ve lacked most of the season. Who says no?”

Fitting Rooker into the Giants’ lineup would be tough considering Rafael Devers is the team’s new designated hitter, but they’d have two options. Devers could slide to first base, or Rooker could play the outfield. Either option would work perfectly for the Giants.

Adding a star with the home run potential of Rooker would be huge in closing the gap on the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West.

The Athletics might not want to trade Rooker, but bringing in a few talented prospects might fit their winning timeline better.

The last thing to note is that this feels like a bit of an underpay. Rooker is one of the more underrated sluggers in baseball, and he’s under affordable team control for a long time. The Giants would likely need to throw in another prospect to get the deal to go through.

More MLB: Sandy Alcántara Blockbuster? Cubs Trade Rumors Reaching New Peak