Giants Acquire Ryan Garko

After months of speculation about how the Giants would improve their offense, Brian Sabean finally pulled the trigger on a trade, getting first baseman Ryan Garko from the Indians in exchange for minor-league pitcher Scott Barnes. At the moment, I'm a little "meh" on the trade. Garko should improve the offense, but only marginally, or as FanGraphs puts it, by "fractions of a win." If the Giants want to make any real difference, they will have to add another bat, like Adam Dunn, Josh Willingham, or Freddy Sanchez.

Not to say that Garko doesn't have some positives. He has a career OPS of .805, which isn't great for a first baseman, but makes him something of a legend on this legend. His .355 career on-base percentage also makes him one our better hitters, and he has about 20-home run power. He hits lefties very well (.906 career OPS), righties less so (.768). Those splits lead to believe that Travis Ishikawa probably still has a place on this team, as an occasional starter against righties as well as a defensive replacement.

The Giants gave up something of value in Scott Barnes. Baseball America ranked Barnes as the ninth best prospect in the Giants' system, and his stock was rising. At San Jose, Barnes was 12-3 with a 2.85 ERA and 99 strikeouts in 98 innings. He's been dominant lately, with a 1.48 ERA over his last eight starts. I think he has a future as at least a back of the rotation starter in the majors. I'm not against the idea of trading Barnes, but I would have preferred more in return than a player best suited to a platoon role. Let's hope Garko proves me wrong.