2019 Trade Deadline Thread:

[chop2chip]

Any team will trade at any time if they are getting a gross overpay.

Bit of a catch all response, right? I think the implication from Passan is that they WANTED to move those guys, but held off until offers were better (and not to see if they were a playoff team),

[jpx7]

Bit of a catch all response, right? I think the implication from Passan is that they WANTED to move those guys, but held off until offers were better (and not to see if they were a playoff team),

Indeed:

San Francisco's recent success isn't throwing a wrench in the team's trade-Bumgarner-and-all-the-relievers plan. Even with their best run of the year, the Giants are three games below .500 and have the third-worst run differential in the NL. They are selling. One more time, a bit slower. They. Are. Selling. Which is a difficult thing to pitch to a fan base and clubhouse of players who are enjoying this winning stuff.

[...]

The Giants tried to jump the deadline on a Bumgarner deal a month ago. When nothing substantive came of that, they resolved to wait -- and interested teams believe that waiting will continue until close to July 31. Everyone knows what Bumgarner is. The actual prices they're willing to pay won't reveal themselves until the clock starts ticking louder.

They didn’t wait because they think they’ll win anything; they waited because they think they can yet extract more value out of their assets.