Few people are going to remember Friday’s trade between the San Francisco Giants and Washington Nationals as the move that transformed either franchise.

The Giants sent left-handed reliever Reiver Sanmartín to Washington in exchange for minor league right-hander Robert Cranz, turning a roster casualty into an actual return.

It was what some might call a modest piece of business, the sort that gets buried beneath free-agent rumors and winter meetings chatter.

Considering where the Giants stood earlier in the week, however, it counts as a small win.

A Little Something for a Player on His Way Out

The Giants designated Sanmartín for assignment Monday while sorting through a crowded 40-man roster. They had already decided he wasn’t part of their immediate plans, and the possibility of losing him without receiving anything was very real.

Instead, Washington offered Cranz, a 23-year-old reliever who has shown enough in the minors to be worth taking a look at. Nobody should confuse that with a major prospect haul, but getting a lottery ticket is better than watching one of your pitchers disappear for nothing.

Sanmartín wasn’t entirely expendable because he couldn’t pitch. The 30-year-old made 24 appearances for the Giants in 2026, posting a 4.22 ERA with 16 strikeouts across 21 1/3 innings.

He was better down the stretch, recording a 1.69 ERA over his final 19 outings. That was apparently not enough to convince the Giants to keep him around for another campaign.

An Interesting Arm, Not a 2027 Solution

Cranz, a seventh-round pick out of Oklahoma State in 2024, has demonstrated an ability to miss bats. He struck out 40 hitters in just 26 1/3 innings at Double-A this season while putting up a 3.42 ERA.

What wasn’t encouraging was his performance at Triple-A. Cranz finished with a 13.11 ERA in 11 2/3 innings at Rochester, which is the sort of statistical line that makes it pretty clear there’s some room for growth.

The Giants will get a chance to help him figure things out. He might spend next season in Sacramento — or somewhere else in San Francisco’s farm system — which seems more plausible than Cranz immediately becoming a major piece of the 2027 pitching staff.

Of course, the Giants have far bigger problems to solve this winter, and adding a minor league reliever won’t make much difference to their projected win total.

Buster Posey needs proven pitchers — something that’s been discussed ad nauseam at this juncture — as well as healthy players who look capable of competing again.