Giant Trade on the Horrizon?

The Giants offense has gone into an absolute tail-spin since the second half of the season started up for them on Friday. Fortunately they did muster up enough runs late in Thursday's game vs. Atlanta to support Barry Zito's stellar outing, but the Giants offense had totaled only 11 runs in their first 6 games out of the break.

The stagnant offense has caused fans to start getting antsy for the Giants to make a move to bring in a hitter, and with trade deadline just a week away, Brian Sabean is likely making his last minute inquiries. Henry Schulman reported in his blog earlier Thursday that the Nationals had a couple of scouts in Connecticut over the last few days, scouting out some of the Giants AA prospects. The Nat's have a number of players who could actually help the Giants out. Of course, the two names that have been bandied about the most have been Nick Johnson and Adam Dunn, but those aren't the only guys on the Nat's roster that could provide the Giants and offensive punch. I talked about Josh Willingham a while back here, as he's a right-handed hitting corner outfielder with above average power, and really is an all-around solid hitter. Heading into play Thursday, Willingham is carrying a .297 average with 13 home runs, 29 RBI and 40 runs scored in just 209 at-bats. The 13 home runs are better than any other current Giants outfielder, and actually matches the teams' top two, Aaron Rowand (9) and Fred Lewis' (4), put together. That said, I think the Giants would welcome Willingham to one of their corner spots with open arms.

An Adam Dunn/Josh Willingham to the Giants deal would be really be just what the doctor ordered for this team, but I'm just not sure they could pull it off without giving up one of their elite three prospects in Madison Bumgarner, Tim Alderson and Buster Posey. A few other guys in Connecticut who the Nat's could be looking at are 23 year-old righty Henry Sosa and 24 year-old lefty Ben Snyder. Sosa currently leads the Giants AA affiliate in winning percentage, with 6-0 mark to go along with a 2.36 era. Snyder has been lights-out in his first year since transitioning to the bullpen. He's got a 2.10 era and 67 k's in 68 innings of relief this year. Both of those would probably immediately become a couple of the Nat's top pitching prospects, as their system is pretty bare on young arms.

Whether it's Dunn and Willingham, Johnson and Willingham, just one of them, or someone like them, the Giants need to add some offense. Not necessarily a guy who hits 30 homers a year (though that would be nice), but at least another guy who hits .300 or so and can keep innings and rally's going. They've lost their lead in the NL wild card race, and have shown over the last week (2 wins, 5 losses) just how bad things can get when this team goes through offensive struggles. The clock is ticking towards the July 31st trade deadline, and I fully expect to see Sabean and the Giants active before that date. Both Sabean and Bochy are in the last years of their contracts and both need this season to finish well in order to have any shot at resigning with the Giants, and they just may have the team to make a little noise in the post-season with an addition or two to their lineup!