WTF?

After the Giants traded Scott Barnes for Ryan Garko, I said I felt a little "meh" about the move. Today, they dealt Tim Alderson to the Pirates for Freddy Sanchez, and I have a somewhat stronger opinion. Let me put it this way: the Phillies traded four prospects today for an elite starting pitcher in Cliff Lee. None of those prospects are as good as Tim Alderson, who is worth more than a slightly above average bat. In addition, the Braves did not give up anything this good when they traded for Nate McLouth, who is in my opinion a better player than Sanchez and is under team control for more years.

No disrespect to Sanchez, who will certainly be an upgrade over what the Giants have thrown out there at second base this year. But what the Giants really needed was a guy who could hit for power or a guy who could get on base, and Sanchez does not do either particularly well. His career high in home runs is 11, and he has never walked more than 32 times in a season). I imagine when Brian Sabean looks at Sanchez, he sees a guy with batting title and three All-Star appearances. I see a guy who had a fluke season in 2006 and is lucky that every team needs to be represented in the All-Star Game.

Alderson, a top-50 prospect according to Baseball America, was having a strong season for Double-A Connecticut, going 6-1 with a 3.47 ERA. His strikeout numbers (46 in 72.2 IP) left a little to be desired, but he made up for it with outstanding command (just 14 walks) and an ability to keep the ball on the ground. He profiles as a middle to back of the rotation starter. He would be the top pitching prospect in all but a handful of organizations. I would not be surprised to see him in the Pirates' starting rotation at the beginning of next year.

The Giants have now dealt their second and third best pitching prospects for two hitters that won't push Bengie Molina out of the cleanup spot. Alderson and Barnes could have been good trade chips in a big deal for a hitter like Victor Martinez (after seeing what the Indians got for Lee, I have a hard time believing they would have scoffed at an offer built around those two). It's also hard to imagine the Giants couldn't have come up with a package for Sanchez from this group of players: Henry Sosa, Kevin Pucetas, Clayton Tanner, Conor Gillaspie, Nick Noonan, Ehire Adrianza, Fred Lewis, John Bowker, Jesus Guzman, Merkin Valdez, Osiris Matos, or Kevin Frandsen. I'll feel better if we can steal Josh Willingham or Alex Rios.