The Splash/SFGate
I can hear it in living rooms, barrooms, game rooms and even some mothers' basements after first baseman Adam LaRoche and left fielder Matt Holliday changed teams: "When is Sabean going to get off his ass and make a deal?"
The short answer is, he'll likely make a deal when he believes he can get a player who can help the Giants make the playoffs without having to tear down a farm system that he just rebuilt.
Now, I'm taking it on faith that I have been told the truth and Sabean will be allowed to add a reasonable amount of payroll to make a run for the postseason. If he isn't, that's a different story altogether.
One thing I've learned from lots of baseball people is, every potential trade has to be viewed on its own merits. Trades made for the sake of making a trade do not usually work out.
Let's look at today's deal. The A's sent Holliday and $1.5 million to the Cardinals for third baseman Brett Wallace, the 13th overall pick in last year's draft, plus two additional prospects.
I'm not surprised to see my colleague Susan Slusser reporting the Giants did not call the A's on Holliday. Two months ago, during another nadir in Giants hitting, Giants people indicated to me they were not high on Holliday.
But even if they were, would he be worth the price the Cardinals paid? Would you want the Giants to surrender their equivalent of Wallace plus two less stellar prospects for two months of a Scott Boras client -- and add $3 million in payroll?
I don't know if I make that deal.
Let's look at the LaRoche deal, too. By all accounts, the Red Sox gave up two marginal prospects for the Bucs first baseman, but they also agreed to assume his entire $3 million salary for the rest of the year. Let's say the Giants can add, oh, $5 million in payroll for the rest of the season -- and that may be high -- is LaRoche the guy you'd want Sabean to blow his wad of bills on?
Yeah, he's a good second-half player, but when I saw LaRoche swing at a 3-0 Jeremy Affeldt pitch in a crucial situation and ground into a double play Sunday, my first thought was, "Travis Ishikawa would have taken that pitch."
The Giants take a strength into this final week before the deadline they did not possess the last few years. They finally have the prospects to make an impact deal. So the question becomes do they want to? Or, more specifically, for whom are they willing to perhaps overpay to help them in 2009 and beyond? I say that because GMs who have impact players often make other teams overpay.
I don't know the answer to that. Sabean has gone into full trade-deadline bunker mode and rarely tips his hand. But based on the past, I know he's a big believer that if you think you have a shot to get into the playoffs, you have to go for it because you never know when you'll have another opportunity. Once you're in, anything can happen in the playoffs.
Thus, I believe he will do something, even if it's shoring up the bench, bullpen or rotation absent an available bat. And no, I don't think he's going to make a reckless deal that could cripple the organization long-term simply because his job is on the line, if for no other reason his superiors (Bill Neukom and Larry Baer) get intimately involved in these matters and would not let him.
So who are the Giants pursuing?
I know they've scouted Freddy Sanchez and like him. I know a Nationals scout was pulled away from his regular assignment to watch the Giants' Double-A team, so I'm guessing Sabean is taking a long look at Nick Johnson, who, when healthy, is a better option that Adam LaRoche at first base (although it would help if he was right-handed). If Florida decides to be a seller, I can't imagine why the Giants would not renew their pursuit of Jorge Cantu or Dan Uggla?
Beyond that, I do believe Bobby Evans when he tells me "We're talking to everybody." In the old days, you'd say, "Hey, it only costs me a dime to call and find out." Now, it doesn't even cost that
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