Your San Francisco Giants Get Winn But Not A Win
When we last left your San Francisco Giants they were busy pondering their '05 existence: whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of a season's outrageous fortune or to trade for more arms against a sea of losses? And your answer? Randy Winn. Well that and no Barry but was there anyone who didnt see that coming? (side note-- remember those theories out there that Barry was sitting this season out not because he was injured but because it was a way of disappearing when all the heat was on him? Totally buying it).
Anyways, back to the trade because that's the more interesting subject. On Saturday, the Giants traded yet one more once-upon-a-time shining phenom Jesse Foppert and, as he's permanently known in the blogosphere, "alas, poor Yorvit Torrealba", to the Seattle Mariners for outfielder Randy Winn. This despite the fact the last thing the Giants really needed was another outfielder. Especially one not known as being all that. Winn is what they call fantasy tease-- great tools but not so great stats. In fact, the stat heads hate the move as Winn doesn't have gaudy numbers in any of those new fangled math stats Billy Beane made all the rage. There was speculation that Sabean would use the trade for Winn to parlay another move but nothing came of it
Yorvit Torrealba and the ill-fated Jose Cruz Jr. in much better days from SFGiants.com
What the move shows is that Sabean hasn't quite given up the season yet as he has said the numbers he's looking at aren't quite the fourteen games below .500 but the 5 1/2 games behind. Picture Sabean at a blackjack table with just a lowly seven telling the dealer he's in and hoping for everyone else to fold. As Winn is signed through 2006, it's showing that Sabean is also holding to the same strategy for next year that he had this year-- the final rally of the Over the Hill Gang to Win One for Barry.
Sabean hopes that he'll finally be able to find that mythical third outfielder that the Giants have searched long and hard for. In fact, the search for the third outfielder has taken on Spinal Tap drummer qualities. Since 2000, the elusive third outfielder has consisted of the likes of Marvin Bernard, Armando Rios, Reggie "Why did we not sign him again?" Sanders, the ill-fated Jose Cruz Jr., the Dustan Mohr/Michael Tucker two-headed monster, and the not quite intimidating "anyone with a glove" who make up this year's outfield. In fact, Winn's numbers aren't that much better than the guy he's replacing, mainly Jason Ellison, and is only a marginally better fielder.
Now we've often defended Sabean against our blogging brethern but this one even has us flummoxed. We wouldn't have minded it actually until we read this bit from Henry Schulman's Bull Pen Column in Sunday's Chron:
"The Braves are in first place despite using a majors-leading 15 rookies this year. Their current roster has nine rookies, including Jeff Francoeur, 21, who hit two homers Thursday to give him five homers and 12 RBIs along with a .441 average in 12 games…"
The Giants Achilles heel for lo these many a year has been their inability to develop anyone. It's not just a bad farm system, but an inability to show any patience with those from the farm system they bring up. While the Braves, aka the Best Organization In Sports, do it right and bring the kids up and let them take a whack at it, the Giants jerk them around, then complain when they can't progress. What's so wrong here is that for years we've been hearing about the vaunted pitching prospects the Giants had tucked away waiting to be let loose upon the majors. Those vaunted pitching prospects? Either flamed out or pitching for someone else.
Even the usually mild mannered and classy Kurt Rueter is complaining these days as the other big story of the past week was Rueter's kvetching about the constant yanking around of him and all the younger pitchers on the Giants staff. If Woody's pissed then something must be going on.
Whatever's going on, it ain't good.