Henry Schulman - San Francisco Chronicle (SFGate)
After Ray Durham packed his gear, gave clubhouse manager Mike Murphy a tearful hug and joined the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday, center fielder Aaron Rowand was asked if he regretted his five-year commitment to a team just beginning a rebuild.
"I said when I signed here, the key is our starting pitching," Rowand said. "That's what's going to make us contend and be able to compete every day. Just because we're going young this season doesn't mean we're not going to try to get free agents in the offseason to make us competitive for next season."
True enough, general manager Brian Sabean should have some money to spend this winter, but on whom? There will be some good hitters available, including Rowand's good friend from the White Sox, third baseman Joe Crede, and Atlanta first baseman Mark Teixeira - but this winter's free-agent class is not going to be a grand bazaar of offensive production.
Moreover, the Giants' play during a just-completed 1-8 stretch against three playoff-caliber teams, the Mets, Cubs and Brewers, drove home the point that they need much more than one big hitter to become a good team.
Other experienced players could be moved by the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline (or even afterward in waiver deals). Rich Aurilia could be attractive to a contending team that needs a versatile right-handed hitter off the bench. Tyler Walker would be a nice fit for a team that needs help bridging its starter and closer.
These, however, are not the type of players who fetch difference-making prospects from other teams. To get those, or better yet, experienced big-league hitters who are not on the verge of free agency, Sabean almost certainly would have to part with the one commodity that gives players such as Rowand so much hope for the franchise's future: young starting pitchers.
On Sunday, Sabean was asked if he will look into significant deals for offense before the July 31 deadline in addition to moving short-timers such as Aurilia or Omar Vizquel. His answer could not have been clearer.
"That's our job," Sabean said. "You have to listen. You never know what's going to get thrown your way. That kind of deal would be attractive. But as we sit here, we're not going to trade our young pitching. The baseball world knows that. Is there a way to strike an accord around that? I don't know."
There are attractive hitters who could be available and are not free agents this winter. They include Seattle third baseman Adrian Beltre, Colorado third baseman Garrett Atkins, and Pittsburgh outfielders Xavier Nady and Jason Bay.
Assuming Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez and Tim Lincecum are untouchable, do the Giants have enough in trade to get one of those players? Would another team consider a deal centered on somebody like Nate Schierholtz or one of the Giants' super Class A pitching prospects?
For now, Sabean's plan is to move the older guys and create opportunities for prospects in house so he and manager Bruce Bochy can see what they really have.
As Sabean said Sunday, "It's been a battle of mixing and matching for Bruce's sake to get a lineup on the field to score some runs, and we have to pay due respect to these older guys with contracts because they have to play in order to be able to be traded somewhere else.
"Then we have to integrate the younger guys. The sooner we get the younger guys in there, the more prepared we are doing due diligence with them."
Still, the younger guys who thus far have been blocked, such as Emmanuel Burriss and Eugenio Velez, are not run producers, which is what the Giants need for 2009 and beyond. Schierholtz could be a run producer. He has 60 RBIs in 83 games for Triple-A Fresno. But unless the Giants trade Randy Winn, which Sabean said he is not inclined to do, Schierholtz will remain blocked.
That leaves the Giants hoping that their two best current young players, Fred Lewis and John Bowker, develop into consistent big-league hitters, getting first-round draft pick Buster Posey on the fast track once he signs and some shrewd deal-making from Sabean, who will be challenged to strengthen the offense without weakening the team's greatest asset, its stable of young starting pitchers.
-- Giant tribute: Orlando Cepeda will join Willie Mays, Willie McCovey and Juan Marichal - in bronze at AT&T Park. C5
Pair of prospects
Steve Hammond
Position: LHP
Age: 26
Hometown/College: Vallejo/Long Beach State
Size: 6-2, 205 pounds
The skinny: Drafted at age 23, Hammond rose quickly through the Brewers' system and put up good numbers (7-4, 3.45 ERA in 15 starts) this year during his second try at Double-A but was "a little overmatched," in GM Brian Sabean's words, in four starts at Triple-A Nashville (0-4, 7.41). The Giants will send Hammond to Fresno and determine whether he should start or relieve.
Darren Ford
Position: OF
Age: 22
Hometown/College: Vineland, N.J./Chipola (Fla.) JC
Size: 5-11, 192 pounds
The skinny: The speedster is said to be a terrific center fielder and has stolen 186 bases (including 48 this season) in 400 minor-league games. Alas, the right-handed hitter is struggling to get on base. He batted .230 with 88 strikeouts in 343 at-bats before the trade. The Giants have assigned him to Class A San Jose.
Waiting for word
Shortstop Omar Vizquel poses a sticky wicket for the Giants.
On one hand, they surely want to see prospects such as Emmanuel Burriss and Ivan Ochoa at shortstop for the rest of the season. But with Vizquel hitting .166, he might be difficult to trade.
In similar cases, the Giants simply released struggling older players, but they are loath to embarrass a player of Vizquel's stature that way.
If a contending team needs a backup defensive shortstop and a strong clubhouse presence for a playoff push, regardless of his hitting, Vizquel would be a great choice. Vizquel said Sunday he prefers to stay in San Francisco for the rest of the season. He will be watching and waiting ahead of the July 31 trade deadline like everyone else.
"I don't think my season has been what they expected," Vizquel said. "I don't know at what point they're waiting for me to do good. It just depends on what they think, if they really feel I can influence the younger guys by talking to them or guiding them to get better, or whether they're going to start unloading the veteran guys. I don't know where I stand right now."
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