San Francisco Giants: Jonathan Sanchez Dealt For Melky Cabrera

Hot stove this early? Evidently, yes, because the San Francisco Giants traded Jonathan Sanchez to the Royals for Melky Cabrera on Monday.

In fact, Giants GM Brian Sabean may have managed to force a wry smile after hearing that the Royals actually wanted to take Sanchez off their hands.

Sanchez used to joke that he has been traded five or six times now, and I am sure Sabean & Co. may have preferred it that way with all the heartache that went into these last few seasons with the lefty.

Finally, albeit at an unorthodox time, the Royals bit, the Giants jumped and a deal was done.

The Royals acquired pitcher to help their struggling starting rotation, and maybe much more, and the Giants get their .300 average lead-off hitter that can play CF who is realistically heading into the prime of his career.

Can or should anyone be mad at the Giants trading away Sanchez?

Sure. Sabean should have dangled him over the trading block back in 2009 after his no-hitter against the Padres at a time when his stock was at its highest.

Maybe then San Francisco thought too highly of him. Trade proposals were coming in, I am sure, but who knew about their starring rotation back then?

Now with Ryan Vogelsong and pitching coach that can seemingly turn nothing into something, suddenly Sanchez is available. And suddenly the Giants are settling for Melky Cabrera.

Realistically, next to Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder, the free agent market was nothing to look at. Especially with the potential to attempt to lock-up Lincecum and Cain, there was less than a chance the Giants would overpay for either of those bats.

In that sense, Cabrera was a decent catch in a weary free agent market. The Giants just had to give up their most attractive available arm.

The truth is that Sanchez was always a tease. He was someone with so much potential, yet had so many mental blocks it was going to be impossible to get him to play up to that potential.

Cabrera, on the other hand, is just about the exact player they wanted, needed and could dream of this offseason. He hits like Freddy Sanchez, plays centerfield (the position the Giants needed) and is available to bat lead-off.

Sabean did all that while managing to not break the bank on the act of going after Carlos Beltran.

How he managed to acquire a player coming off a career year in exchange for a pitcher that will never live up to the hype, I do not know.

Read More

San Francisco Giants: The Likelihood of the Rumored Trade Bait

The now infamous "untouchables" list of Giants GM Brian Sabean took a little twist a few days ago when the San Francisco Chronicle's Henry Schulman tweeted that Sabean had told him that his "untouchables" list may be different than public perception.

What does that mean?

Public opinion says that the Giants' top prospects of Brandon Belt, Gary Brown, Zach Wheeler and Francisco Peguero are at the forefront of players that Sabean would hate to part with since they have such big futures apart of this team.

Read More

Jonathan Sanchez Disappointing as the San Francisco Giants Head Home

Jonathan Sanchez has walked 12 batters in his last two starts and the San Francisco Giants could not sweep the New York Mets at Citi Field on Thursday afternoon.

It will be a much-needed homestand spanning seven days for the Giants, in which they will see NL West rivals Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks take the field at AT&T Park.

This was not the most successful roadtrip for the Giants. They finished the trip with a record of 5-5, and saw Pablo Sandoval go down with injury, while encountering two rather disappointing outings from starter Jonathan Sanchez.

Giants' analyst Mychael Urban summed it up best when he commented after the game that Sanchez just "wasn't making adjustments," and that pitching coach Dave Righetti must be wondering "how to get through to this guy."

Sanchez surrendered five runs on five hits through five innings, including walking another six batters on Thursday.

That outing followed up his start on April 30th, where he only let up one run on two hits through five innings, but walked six batters in the process. Sanchez's record was 1-1 on the roadtrip.

There are obvious mechanical problems with Sanchez at this point, as can be seen with the surplus in walks. Rest assured, Righetti will be working very hard with him before his next scheduled start in order to fix what currently ails Sanchez.

It seems like the Giants just need a home-cooked meal right now. At 15-16 on the year, this homestand against two NL West opponents seems like as good a time as any to get back on track.

One good thing that came from this roadtrip that seemed to last forever was the resurgence of Mike Fontenot, who has seemingly replaced injured Pablo Sandoval in the line-up and on the field at shortstop.

Fontenot has bat .350 in his last six games with seven hits and a homerun. Looking at he Giants' offense over this last week, it would be safe to say that Fontenot was the only source of offense.

Matt Cain will be on the hill on Friday night against the Colorado Rockies in what will prove to be an early season test for the Giants as they look to rebound from a very disappointing roadtrip in all aspects.

Read More

Giants Frustrated, But Zito's Spot Secure

Bruce Jenkins's column in the San Francisco Chronicle this past week has sent waves throughout the San Francisco Giants community. Jenkins' report? Barry Zito may be released. So now an offseason where the team had no distractions and could focus on repeating, now has turned into a game of 'What If?'

The report, bogus in itself, was that the Giants were frustrated with Zito because they only made the playoffs by one game, and it wouldn't have been that close if Zito had given them a just a few better outtings. Huh?

Jenkins is credible and very respected in the industry, but this isn't supposed to be serious, right?

That's baseball, Bruce.

I don't doubt that the Giants are frustrated with Zito. $126 million and barely any production. Plus, he was left off the playoff roster. Yeah, they should be disappointed. He's not quite the investment they were hoping for. On top of that, he has shown up to Spring Training out of shape and close to no offseason conditioning. Oh, and he botched his spring debut. That may have fueled this fire.

But are the Giants going to release Zito? No, no , no.

From a financial stand-point, why would they?

Zito's $126 million/7 yrs. still has $57.5 million for 3 years left on it. You think the Giants are going to eat that? Doubt it. Not if Zito starts the season 0-10 are they going to eat that. Although, don't quote me on that.

The hefty $126 million contract aside, from a production stand-point, will the Giants release him? Never.

Zito is one of the best 5th starters in the MLB. Although he gets paid #1 starter money, his 4.09 ERA over the last couple seasons is nothing to be released over.

Take him for what he's worth. He is a decent starter who happens to make a ridiculous sum of money that he doesn't deserve.

But he isn't going anywhere.

Bruce Bochy came out and said that Zito is the team's 4th starter, no questions.

Actually I have one. Number 4? Really?

You're telling me Zito is the 4th best pitcher on this team? Jonathan Sanchez or Madison Bumgarner are worse than Zito? Check yourself Boch.

So Zito is their guy through thick and thin. Not because the Giants want him to be their guy, but because he has to be their guy. $65 million through 2013 will remind them of that.

This isn't to say Zito's spot in the rotation will be safe the whole season. He's going to have to earn it whether the team acknowledges it or not.

The leash will be short.

The #5 spot in that rotation is fully functional because the Giants have four pitchers that are horses and they can easily get away with a 4-man rotation of they want to get crazy.

Remember, the Giants do have a farm system, and a decent one at that. They did sign Jeff Suppan in the offseason, and Clayton Tanner from AA may be making some strides and will one day pitch in San Francisco. So Zito's spot isn't fully secure. They'll make him work for it.

It should be that way. Zito coming to Spring Training out of shape is no way to get respect back. It only fuels the fire more.

I don't doubt that Zito and the Giants organization are on the same page from a public relations stand-point, but you have to believe that Zito's act is getting old.

Who knows how long the Giants will let him go before they finally snap?

Read More