Hayden Birdsong’s demotion combined with Justin Verlander’s inconsistency highlight the team’s need for major-league rotation depth as the July 31 trade deadline looms. It’s an issue that has been brewing since the team sent Kyle Harrison and Jordan Hicks to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for Rafael Devers.

While the market offers plenty of high-priced rotation pieces (e.g. Sandy Alcantara, Mitch Keller, Charlie Morton, Seth Lugo ), there are still plenty of affordable arms to be had. Jeffrey Springs ’ $10.5MM salary (both this year and next) is relatively manageable, and he’d provide stability beyond the current season.

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Birdsong’s demotion now leaves the rotation as Logan Webb, Robbie Ray, Justin Verlander, Landen Roupp and others. Webb and Ray were both All-Stars, but they’re both coming off nightmare starts, and they’ve struggled more recently than they previously had all season.

With Hayden Birdsong's demotion, it’s clear the Giants have had enough of the rotation’s struggles and are moving in a different direction.

Just about everything that could go wrong did go wrong for the Giants in Monday’s series opener against the Braves at Truist Park. San Francisco fell, 9-5, against a struggling Braves team and the Giants are enduring a season-long six-game losing streak.

The Giants’ rotation took a hit when the team optioned Hayden Birdsong to Triple-A Sacramento following the worst start of his career. On Friday, that unit took another blow.

The SF Giants demoted Hayden Birdsong after his disastrous start on Monday against the Atlanta Braves. He leaves a hole in the starting rotation that may end up