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A Winter’s PropositionJune 19th, 2008
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Toronto Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi placed his offer before Giants’ general manager Brian Sabean during major league baseball’s annual winter meetings. The deal arrived without an expiration date, but existed as an open-ended trade that Sabean could act upon when ready.
Toronto desired San Francisco right-hander Tim Lincecum with right fielder Alex Rios the attractive bait dangled in the hopes a bite would be had.
If Sabean accepted Ricciardi’s proposition, San Francisco would receive the appealing Rios, a right fielder with power and youth and unlike anyone on the Giants’ roster. An All-Star selection in 2007, Rios hit .297 with 24 homers and 85 RBIs last season.
As presents placed under a Christmas tree tempt eager children, maybe Ricciardi considered Rios his grand gift to Sabean. And as the days expired, possibly he counted on Sabean to grow impulsive as children do after staring at the objects of their fantasies and to ignore good judgment by prematurely shredding the wrapping paper from a gift or in this case, making that call to Toronto.
After weeks of mulling his options, moments where a trade seemed imminent and plenty of time for fans to waffle back and forth and back again, Sabean declined Ricciardi’s offer.
Sabean’s critics have rightly blamed him for the trades he’s made as of late, but his decision to stand pat should be lauded as brilliant.
As of Wednesday, Lincecum (8-1) was second in the NL in ERA with a 2.21 average and strike outs with 95. On Monday, Detroit touched-up Lincecum for four runs in seven innings, which pushed his ERA above two as he lost an opportunity for his ninth victory.
Lincecum represents San Francisco’s undisputed ace, a pitcher looked upon to halt a losing streak and to forward his team’s momentum during a winning stretch. Simply put, a start by Lincecum is “Win Day” for the Giants.
With Barry Zito (2-11) now a distant resemblance of his former self and Cain (3-5) still susceptible to youthful mistakes, Sabean unknowingly saved the Giants’ rotation by keeping Lincecum.
Though he dazzled during his starts last year, whispers had popped-up about the durability of Lincecum’s slight frame and his twisting motion. Matt Cain appeared to be the safer bet with the solid build and easy over-the-top delivery. But, Lincecum is one of those rare athletes, one that shouldn’t be graded on a normal scale, but by his own unique qualities.
While Lincecum has thrived during his first full season, Rios has struggled with a .272 batting average, three homers and 26 RBIs. And with that, Sabean should be commended for not making a trade, which appeared to satisfy the needs of both teams, but would have weakened the Giants’ strength and left them mediocre throughout.
Home Not-So Sweet Home: The Giants washed out the bitter taste of a weekend sweep by the Oakland A’s with a home victory over the Detroit Tigers, 8-6, to improve their league-worst home record to 14-24. Players have called for the infield grass to be shortened in the hopes a bit of landscaping might help out the many ground ball and line-drive hitters in San Francisco’s lineup.
Trade Bait: With San Francisco hovering in shouting distance of the first-place Arizona Diamondbacks, Sabean might be fooled into keeping veterans such as Randy Winn, Ray Durham and Omar Vizquel. But, all three represent chips that should be cashed in before the trade deadline. A contending team might find value in Winn’s steady hitting and outfield play, Durham’s second baseman pop or the dependable hands of Vizquel at short.
John Bowker: The sometimes first baseman and sometimes right fielder has made a solid case for himself as a piece for the future. Against Detroit, Bowker slammed a three-run homer in the Giants’ comeback victory. His seven homers rank second on the team behind Aaron Rowand. His debut weekend in San Francisco against St. Louis in April included a home run in each of his first two major league games.
Zito’s Woes: On Wednesday, the Detroit Tigers hammered Barry Zito for five runs on five hits in two innings pitched. With 11 losses, Zito is a sure bet to drop 20 games this season if the Giants continue to pitch him every five days. After a few decent starts, Zito has resumed to his usual form and is nothing more than batting practice for opposing teams. One solution is to drop Zito from the rotation indefinitely, place a call to fired Mets pitching coach Rick Peterson and hope for a miracle. Peterson tutored Zito as the A’s pitching coach when both resided in Oakland.
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July 4th, 2008 at 12:37 am
[...] A Winter’s Proposition Toronto Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi placed his offer before Giants’ general manager Brian Sabean during major league baseball’s annual winter meetings. The deal arrived without an expiration date, but existed as an open-ended trade that Sabean could act upon when ready. Toronto desired San Francisco right-hander Tim Lincecum with right fielder Alex Rios the attractive bait dangled in the hopes a bite would be had. If Sabean accepted Ricciardi’s proposition, San Francisco [...]