Ah Bearded Wonder...how we barely knew ye

As the trading deadline came to a close yesterday, it seemed as if Sabean had sat on his hands again. Whatever reason he gave, may it be the 'ol "The value we were asking for was not being given back in return", or my personal favorite, "We still see ourselves as contenders right now", thousands of Giants fans were preparing themselves to let it be known that Sabean's 2-year extension was the most recent of idiotic moves by the San Francisco Giants.

However, as minutes went by past the deadline, we found out that Morris, probably our most important asset to trade, was in fact, traded. Why was he the most important asset to be traded? Well, it definitely wasn't because of his quality of play. The crap has hit the fan for Morris in his last 5 starts or so, making me wonder if he was doing his best to lower his trade value so he could stay in San Francisco. No, the reason this was another fantastic trade by Sabean is that we gain about $13 million or so over the next year that we would have had to pay him for his crappiness. Also, there is no shortage of quality pitchers that can rise up in his spot, as apparently Ortiz and Misch will compete for Morris's now vacant rotation spot (no link, but I read it somewhere yesterday). My bet goes to Ortiz--let the feel-good story of the year continue!

Sabean...thank you for giving us a bit of hope that you weren't lying through your teeth when you spoke of rebuilding and getting rid of vets. I don't care that all you got in return was Fred Lewis 1.5 and the always-intriguing player-to-be-named-later. Thank you for giving us a bit of hope that you actually know what you are doing from here on out. Now keep it up! Now that this kid give us our 1,265th outfielder, let's get rid of Roberts! He is unnecessary, as Freddy Lewis can give us the same kind of production and has yet to hit his peak. I'd also love to see us get some kind of prospect for Durham, Klesko, and I'm fairly certain if Kline is put on waivers someone will bite...a quality veteran lefty out of the bullpen is always needed somewhere....somewhere that is, except for San Francisco.

UPDATE: How does Pittsburgh even take Sabean's calls anymore, after the Schmidt deal? Pittsburgh's probably about the last place I expected Morris to go.

UPDATE II: What a great game last night! While Penny and Martin bawled all night about the strike zone (which was definitely consistent for both teams), Lowry wriggled out of trouble and the 'pen played fantastically. One of my new favorite Giants pitchers is Hennessey...he does everything that the rest of the pitching staff has trouble doing: throwing strikes! Way to go, Blownitez replacement!

UPDATE III: Just a thought...as the Giants heat up (they've won or split the last 3 series and are well on their way to taking one from the Dodgers as they haven't lost in LA this year), nothing is certain. Just employ the 'ol Dusty Baker methodology, and 11 weeks left and 11 games back in the division gives us time to make up a game a week. It certainly isn't impossible. Improbable, maybe...but not impossible. No, I'm not kidding myself, but there still is some hope. And baseball, much less than life, is nothing without hope.

Oh, and by the way, as I prepare for visiting the Giants/Pads on Saturday, keep this in mind: the last 2 Giants games I have attended, Bonds has hit 3 home runs. And we will be sitting in right field. Oh yeaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh.

Two sides

After a week at the lake where yours truly finally, finally got up on a wakeboard, I am ready to post again for your reading pleasure. Apologies for the delay, life's real busy lately. Things should calm down after August.

This whole Sabean extension has Giants fans splitting to two sides, most of whom are standing in the "This is the last thing the Giants organization should have done" side. My gut reaction was to jump over with them, but after reading many, many opinions on the matter, my mind was changed a bit.

John over at OBM (which is probably the best-written Giants blog I've seen) presents a valid case for the crowd calling for Sabean's head. On the other hand, Martin at Obsessive Giants Compulsive (another well-thought out Giants blog) presents a case in defense of Sabean, which as controversial as it may be, has some very good points that swayed my opinion a bit.

After hearing both sides of the argument, I have to say I lie somewhere in the middle. I agree that Sabean has not made any impacting trades that turned out to be positive since the Schmidt trade. He has done a poor job of developing the minor league system, and has signed mediocre after mediocre player, giving them huge contracts.

On the other hand, if (and that's a big "if") McGowan played puppeteer to Sabean's Pinnochio all these years since Sabean turned the team around with the Matt Williams trade, then I can see the case for giving Sabean a year or two to see what he can do on his own will. My deepest feelings tell me that Sabean had just as much to do with the current state of the Giants' organization as McGowan, but because of the job he's done with the pitching staff, and the recent off-shore signings he's made in the past year, I don't think it's a horrible thing to give Sabean a chance. Plus, I do think that if we had brought in a new GM, there is no guarentee that he would be any better than Sabean, and we also may have to suffer even longer for him to get used to and get to know the players in the Giants organization.

My official stance, then, is that I give Sabean one trading deadline (which is rapidly approaching), and one offseason to show us that he can still work some magic and make some steps in a positive direction. We don't need to be a winning ballclub next year, but at least show us that you are able to manage this team in a manner that leads towards the future (ie. get rid of old guys, get new young hitters). And for goodness sake, hire some scouts and coaches that can find and develop young hitters! The lack of these organizational leaders could be the Giants' biggest problem!

The Shortest Straw has Been Pulled for You...

...Matt Morris. The Giants' resurgence in starting pitching has been led by the most improbable of the starting 5 this year to do so. After a 3-year decline that could have been easily predicted by age and injury, Matt Morris has seemingly come back to #2 - starter form. This is certainly a sweet surprise for the Giants, as they are finally halfway getting their money's worth for the guy (did you know he's actually getting paid less than Zito this year, for all the grumblings of his overpaid-ness? Of course Morris's contract is not a 7-year one, but nevertheless...). Unfortunately for Morris, his timing is inexplicably perfect for the Giants to use him as trade bait.

It is well-known that the Giants aren't exactly lighting up the Bay with runs this year. In fact, they just plain suck when it comes to hitting. It's a testament to the fact that Cain is only 2-4 with the way he has been pitching this year. If Pedro Feliz is batting 3rd in the lineup, as he was on Saturday, you know you've got a problem. So...if only there was a team or two who had the opposite problem - a group of young, promising hitters with a poor and/or depleted pitching staff...

To me, the Yankees make the most sense as trade partners. Steinbrenner has a history of giving chances to guys performing well in their late ages, and wouldn't mind taking on Morris' $10+ million contract. Especially after yet another of their pitchers went down this weekend, I can't imagine that good 'ol George wouldn't be interested in a resurging pitcher who could keep them out of the cellar. Any of you think he'll decide to mail it in for the year and decide to change things up in the offseason? I wouldn't put my money on it. And guess which starting right fielder is crapping it up so far this year? I would certainly take a Morris + Hennesorreia for Abreu-type trade in a second. Abreu won't keep up his decline and Morris won't keep up his excellency. Neither team can't not afford to seriously consider it.

But why Morris, do you say? Well, his ERA and K/BB are both about half of the norm, and there's no way he keeps that up. The kids (Lincecum, Cain) aren't touchable, Zito's too expensive, and Ortiz will give you Morris' production for 1/20th of the price. Lowry's another trade candidate, but young, cheap, lefty pitchers with league-average numbers are much harder to come by. I'd also throw in Sanchez, as his development is being stunted in the bullpen anyway, and he's basically become a one-pitch pitcher. Morris is perfect, though--an older, expensive guy that won't kill us if he's gone (can still grab Sanchez and then Hennesorreia if someone gets hurt in the rotation), and who is pitching well. Buy low and sell high. C'mon Brian. DO IT!