SF Giants Gameday: The Giants didn't provide Farhan Zaidi with any clarity this week

It felt as if Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi was the busiest executive in baseball in the hours leading up to the 2019 trade deadline. Zaidi took calls about nearly every reliever on his pitching staff and swung deals with the Braves, Brewers, Twins and Rays. The Giants didn't make the blockbuster moves many in the industry expected such as parting with ace Madison Bumgarner or All-Star closer Will Smith, but Zaidi still made several important moves at the deadline that told us a lot about the way he approaches the process of building a roster. Heading into Monday's trade deadline, the 17-19 Giants can go a variety of different directions. [related_articles location="left" show_article_date="false" article_type="automatic-primary-section"] Zaidi and general manager Scott Harris could turn into a "buyer" and make a move for a left-handed outfield bat and or a right-handed relief option. They can enter "seller" mode and trade starting pitchers such as Johnny Cueto and Kevin Gausman, who would both be attractive to playoff contenders for different reasons. They can also execute a need-for-need trade or remain quiet, choosing to keep the roster as is with so much uncertainty on how the season might shake out. With an expanded playoff field, the Giants already know several teams in front of them in the standings view themselves as legitimate pennant contenders. The Dodgers and Padres think they're positioned for deep postseason runs while the Braves and Cubs made win-now trades on Sunday. The Giants have the talent to remain in the postseason mix until the end of the year and potentially sneak into the postseason, but with each potential trade, Zaidi and Harris must weigh the benefit of competing for a playoff spot in a season in which the club likely wouldn't play deep into October against the opportunity to stockpile talent for the future. The Giants' front office is in a challenging position, and while the club gave Zaidi and Harris no clarity on how to proceed with a 3-3 week, it won't be long before we know exactly how the team's executives view the team's chances in 2020.