These 5 SF Giants have most to gain from trade deadline moves

ARLINGTON, Texas — It’s simple mathematics.Six players subtracted from the Giants’ roster trade deadline means just as many opportunities for other, younger players over the final seven odd weeks of the regular season.San Francisco wasted no time getting on board with the youth movement.After all the dust settled, the average age of the 26-man roster was 27.2 years old — tied for fourth-youngest.“I think as much as anything it’s going to be an opportunity for us as a front office and a coaching staff to evaluate some of our players,” president of baseball operations Buster Posey said.

“Some of them are going to get longer runways than they have in the past.”These five players have the most to gain from the Giants’ trade deadline moves:Talk about a change of scenery.The California kid is back in his home state.He’s out of pressure-packed Boston and the weighty expectations of rabid fans who eagerly awaited his arrival as a top prospect.Mayer has a chance to hit the restart button on his big league career that never quite got off the ground with the Red Sox.

Remember, he is still only 23 with less than a season of MLB service time — lots of time for him to get his career .625 OPS closer to his .826 figure in the minors.“[We] still believe there’s a lot of upside there,” Posey said.Sure, it would be great if he was able to recapture what made him a No.4 overall draft pick and a consensus top-20 prospect for four years running.

But the Giants’ future hardly hangs in the balance.The infield is already crowded, and all this lottery ticket cost was a bullpen arm.Once he is cleared to return from a stress reaction in his forearm, Mayer should be the regular starter at second base for the rest of the season.

If anything, he’ll be part of an extra friendly competition for playing time next spring — with fellow Chula Vista High alum Casey Schmitt.After the trades of Robbie Ray and Tyler Mahle, as well as the elbow surgery Trevor McDonald...