talkinGiantsbaseball

Giants need a boost now, Bochy can’t rest Molina, Guzman hot at Triple-A, Schuerholz meets Schierholtz, Dan Rohn wins No. 1,000

Andrew Baggarly
ExtraBaggs

How many times have you heard a major league owner, general manager or field boss utter these words?

“We’re not going to make a move for the sake of making a move.”

Well, the Giants have reached that stage. They appear in need of a move – any move – before this promising season really goes off the tracks.

The team is caught in another of its patented mini-funks of atrocious hitting and mediocre pitching, and everyone is squeezing the handle a little harder. It doesn’t help that Aaron Rowand is ailing, Edgar Renteria is out and the Kung Fu Panda has momentarily stopped breaking boards with his cute little balled-up bear paws.

The Giants are in a mental rut, and Tuesday’s roster shakeup – Kevin Frandsen out, Matt Downs up – isn’t the kind of thing that gets a clubhouse buzzing with confidence again.

Freddy Sanchez might not be a cleanup hitter. He might not be a panacea, or even a major difference maker. But he’s got a batting title under his belt. He’s an All-Star. He might be someone who can inject some life back into the room.

The same would be true for Matt Holliday, of course – several times over.

I remember covering one trade deadline on the Angels beat. The Texas Rangers came up with Todd Stottlemyre, Todd Zeile and Esteban Loaiza. The Angels came up with nothing. GM Billy Bavasi actually apologized to the team for being unable to add a significant piece.

You can guess what happened next. The Angels played flat, without confidence, and didn’t remain in contention much longer.

Just prior to the All-Star break, I thought about that Angels team and I wondered if the Giants might respond in a similar way if they stood pat. But I didn’t sniff any desperation in the Giants clubhouse. A few players told me they felt confident with the 25 guys in the room, and they sounded earnest. But the mood can change fast when you lose six of seven. Baseball is funny that way.

There’s one thing to remember about the July 31 trade deadline, however. It’s not really a deadline. In this economic climate, players making anything more than a McDonald’s shift leader are likely to pass through waivers. And players who aren’t on 40-man rosters aren’t subject to waivers, either. So the deadline is really more like August 31.

You could argue the Giants cannot afford to wait until August, though. Heck, you could argue they cannot afford to wait 48 hours, given their opponent this weekend — a surging Rockies club that has knocked them out of the wild card lead.

With all of that said, there is a certain timing to trades. If you go back and look at Brian Sabean’s deadline deals over the past few years, almost all have come within a day or two of July 31. The price can change dramatically over the span of a week. You can’t force it to change earlier based on your needs.

So it comes down to this: if the Giants must wait another eight or nine days for a reinforcement to arrive, they’ll just have to play a little bit tougher in the interim.

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One more point about the Rockies: The Giants still have 13 games to play against them. That’s a ton of baseball. As the schedule happens to work out, the last six of those games will be at AT&T Park.

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Have I mentioned the problem with Bengie Molina in the cleanup spot? Yes, I believe I have.

But here’s another: You could argue that the Giants would rather have Eli Whiteside catch three-fifths of the current rotation. We know that Bruce Bochy has looked to match his backup catcher with Barry Zito whenever possible. Whiteside has been working with Ryan Sadowski, whom he caught in the minor leagues. And let’s not forget who was behind the plate for Jonathan Sanchez’s no-hitter.

Bochy raised a few eyebrows when he told the beat writers he intended to sit Molina in two of four games here, with Whiteside catching Sadowski Tuesday and Zito on Thursday.

But after Molina had two hits Wednesday against Jair Jurrjens, Bochy changed his mind. He’ll start Molina alongside Zito in the series finale, saying his frontline catcher should be relatively fresher than he expected.

“It hasn’t been too hot here,” Bochy said.

He was talking about the weather, not his hitters.

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If the Giants aren’t sold on John Bowker’s glove to play him at first base, they might consider sending him down and recalling Jesus Guzman. At least they’d have a right-handed option alongside Travis Ishikawa, and Guzman is heating up again. He was 2-for-4 with his 13th homer Wednesday night, extending a hitting streak to 22 games. His season average is up to .335.

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While we’re at it, maybe the Giants should call up Madison Bumgarner, and not for his pitching, either. He hit a grand slam for Double-A Connecticut Wednesday night. (And yes, I’m joking — about the callup, not the salami. Bumgarner has a .429 average. Kid can mash. In high school, he hit a walk-off to win the North Carolina state title.)

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The double-play tracker just hit 13 for Jeremy Affeldt. And his scoreless innings streak reached 25 innings – a career best. What a season he’s having.

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Braves President and legendary baseball architect John Schuerholz arranged to have his photograph taken with Giants outfielder Nate Schierholtz. You’ll notice their names aren’t spelled the same. I don’t think you’ll see them enter a three-legged race at the same family reunion. But anyway, Schuerholz was excited to meet a similarly named major league player and Nate was happy to oblige.

As someone who has a relatively uncommon last name, I understand the novelty. About 90 minutes south of Atlanta is a little town full of Baggarlys. One of the main streets through town is Baggarly Way. You can visit the Baggarly Bros. Buggy Shop and Museum, too. (That’s how Google led me there.)

A few years ago, I made a little day trip before a night game. I never knew Georgia was such a pretty state. Turns out this little town, Senoia, is the film capital of the South. “Fried Green Tomatoes” was among the movies shot there, and it’s easy to find the house from the flick. Looks just as idyllic in person. I got my haircut in a barbershop that had an actual barber pole. The barber’s name wasn’t Floyd, though.

Part of me felt at home.

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Congratulations to Triple-A Fresno manager Dan Rohn, who earned his 1,000th victory Tuesday night. That’s dedication to the game, right there. Very admirable.

Whenever he retires, I hope he never has to ride another bus for the rest of his life.