Giants General Manager Brian Sabean is in an unenviable
position.
He needs a bat, perhaps another pitcher, and all he pretty much
has to give away is a slew of young, cheap prospects.
Sabean also needs to save his job, which you’d think would
happen only if the Giants make the playoffs, which you’d think
would happen only if he, literally, sells the farm.
Giants General Manager Brian Sabean is in an unenviable position.
He needs a bat, perhaps another pitcher, and all he pretty much has to give away is a slew of young, cheap prospects.
Sabean also needs to save his job, which you’d think would happen only if the Giants make the playoffs, which you’d think would happen only if he, literally, sells the farm.
For the first time in several years, the San Francisco Giants have enough chips in its farm system to actually swing a big-time deadline trade, a trade that could vault them into the playoffs for the first time since 2003, and maybe, just maybe, extend Sabean’s befuddling career as Giants GM. (Sabean was named The Sporting News’ Executive of the Year in 2003, but also traded Joe Nathan, Boof Bonser and Francisco Liriano for one season’s worth of A.J. Pierzynski in November of that same year. Befuddled much?)
What puts Sabean in such a predicament, though, is the current market and the Giants’ current performance.
Having wrapped up the first half on a 7-3 mark, a 10-game stretch in which they plated 5.4 runs per game, San Francisco has since returned from the All-Star break on a 3-7 tear in which they are scoring runs at a 2.3 average.
They are, right now, what many fans thought they would be: a team perhaps one to two years away from seriously competing; a team that is loaded in the pitching department; a team that will collectively struggle at the plate; and a team hampered by a handful of big-money, low-return contracts.
But furthermore, and this is a little more positive, the Giants are a team that has a promising, young farm system with the likes of Buster Posey, Madison Bumgarner and Tim Alderson, a trio who should only complement the likes of Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and Pablo Sandoval in the years to come.
But this is where the predicament sets in, and pessimism rules the day.
While the Giants were the surprise story during the first half of the season, they have since had a bit of a fall from grace; they have since been exposed. Granted, an upcoming seven-game homestand could be the antidote to what turns this team around, but who’s willing to bet the farm on that, especially with the far superior Phillies coming to town for a four-game series beginning Thursday.
This is, by no means, the “white flag” column that many in the media industry love writing, myself included. But it’s difficult, almost impossible, to foresee the current Giants roster making a serious run without a big-time trade. And even then, unless the Giants swing a deal for Roy Halladay or Adrian Gonzalez, which they can pull off by gift-wrapping either Bumgarner or Alderson or both, the Giants will most likely only figure into the playoff discussion, with no guarantees as to advancing forward into the postseason.
In other words, they need a lot of help. One bat isn’t going to turn this team around, not even the bat of Barry Bonds.
It’s unfortunate, but trade-bait players on the Giants’ current roster – Fred Lewis, Randy Winn, Jonathan Sanchez, etc. – won’t bring much in return.
Entering last night’s game against the Pirates, the Giants were just two games behind wild-card leading Colorado (54-44), which few would have predicted this late in the season. San Francisco is also one of seven teams within five games of those aforementioned Rockies.
Pittsburgh’s Freddy Sanchez and Washington’s Nick Johnson and Josh Willingham, a threesome the Giants have been tied to in almost every trade rumor, would be great pick-ups in the long run as the team progresses with its youth movement, but wouldn’t make that much of a difference this season in turning around the Giants’ anemic offense.
FOXSports.com’s Ken Rosenthal reported Monday the Giants traded prospect Scott Barnes to Cleveland for first baseman Ryan Garko – a smart move by Sabean, who adds a decent bat without giving up much in return.
But Sabean and the Giants are in a strange position this year due to several knee-jerk contract signings in recent years. I’ve always been against the mid-season lovefest between fans and minor league prospects, especially prospects who have yet to reach the major-league level and are being judged strictly on their potential, but the Giants have a chance to be special in the years to come, and there isn’t a single bat available this season that’s worth selling the farm for.
