Giants Have Options as Deadline Nears

The Giants continued their 2nd half magic Wednesday with another extra-inning victory over the Florida Marlins in a wild one, 10-9. And with the way the team has been thriving right now, it must have Brian Sabean in a tough spot, with the trade deadline looming (72 hours and counting), as he decides whether to add or stand pat.

When I saw the headline the other day from MLB Rumors that said the Giants were interested in Scott Podsednik, I was at first surprised, but then I remembered, this is Brian Sabean after all, and when he sets his sights on a player (the Giants have had interest in Podsednik more than once in the past too) he never gives up. What does surprise me, and upsets me to a degree is that he's spending his time focusing on adding a leadoff guy, while Andres Torres (4-6, 1 hr, 3 RBI Wednesday) does all he can to prove himself. I mean, I'm not totally sold on Torres as the future leadoff man for the Giants, but right now, I'd say he's doing an admirable job, and if the Giants are going to add a bat, it should be one that they'd hit in the middle of the order, not at the top. The popular name floating around right now is Jorge Cantu, who's having a less-than stellar .260, 10 HR, 54 RBI campaign with Florida. If that is indeed a target, I'd just assume stand pat. I'd rather give Travis Ishikawa at-bats right now than Cantu to tell you the truth. If they are going to make a move, a few realistic names I'd like Sabean to look at would be another Marlin by the name of Dan Uggla, Pittsburgh's Garrett Jones, Adam Dunn, Lance Berkman or Corey Hart, but only if the price is reasonable. I don't really see the Giants having enough or wanting to part with enough to get Prince Fielder, but that rumor just refuses to go away.

An area which the team also needs help at, and an area that has been hurting recently is the bullpen. They've given up 6 runs in this Marlins series alone and all have been crucial runs. I'm not worried about Brian Wilson, Sergio Romo or Denny Bautista, but the rest are expendable if you ask me. What they really need is another lefty, or Jeremy Affeldt and Dan Runzler to each return strong here in the next week or so. Even when Affeldt and Runzler back, this bullpen could use a shot in the arm and some reinforcement. A few guys Sabean has apparently been looking at are Scott Downs and former Giants' top-pick David Aardsma. Relief pitchers are one of the easiest positions to come by this time of year, I just hope the Giants can get a quality one and either of those two guys would fit the bill. As far as guys I'd be stingy with when it comes to trading chips, I came up with a list of 12 Giants' prospects that I'd be extremely cautious with and would only use to obtain a player for the long-term. Here are the names I came up with: OF Thomas Neal, 1B Brandon Belt, OF Francisco Peguero, 2B Charlie Culberson, SS Ehire Adrianza, SP Zach Wheeler, SS Brandon Crawford, OF Roger Kieschnick, c/1B Tommy Joseph, 3B Chris Dominguez, SP Eric Surkamp and SP Jorge Bucardo. Everyone else in the minors in my mind is expendable and a few guys that I think could draw at least some interest are OF Jon Bowker, IF Connor Gillespie, RP Henry Sosa, SS Emmanuel Burris OF Darren Ford, SP Craig Westcott, SP Joe Martinez, RP Jason Stoffel. Of those "expendable" guys, I actually believe Bowker, Stoffel and Burris may have somewhat of a market, and the other guys could be decent deal-sweeteners. Even Jesus Guzman could have some appeal to an AL team desperate for right-handed power off the bench/DH.

The one thing different for Sabean this time around is that he does leverage, this year more so than any in the last 7 years, in that he doesn't really "need" to make a move for the Giants to stay in contention, and other teams can't really hold a gun to his head in negotiations this time around. Should be interesting to see what goes down, I'll certainly be watching closely.