San Francisco Giants Trade For Freddy Sanchez

The Pittsburgh Pirates have traded second baseman Freddy Sanchez to the San Franscisco Giants for Double-A pitcher Tim Alderson, this according to Dean Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Sanchez is batting .296 with six homers and 34 RBI's for the Pirates this season.

John Sickels of Minor League Ball grades Alderson a B+ (borderline A-) and ranks him the Giants third best prospect.

Sickels: "Doesn't have Bumgarner's stuff but pitched well at a higher level with great command."

SB Nation Expert take:

Grant: McCovey Chronicles

Sanchez is a nice player. Good defense. His one down year was probably due to a low BABIP. He's under contract through next year. Yeah, that's an upgrade worth trading for. But, good gravy, not with one of the more valuable trade chips in the system.

And I'm not the world's biggest Tim Alderson booster, either. He'd have to put a couple of ticks more on his fastball to really be an elite prospect, though his curve and control were already fantastic. I don't think he was the next Tim Lincecum, and I'm not even sure that he was the next Jason Marquis. What kills me, though, is that if the Giants were willing to trade Alderson, they could have traded for something they really needed. A hitter who knows how to get on base more than the average player, or a hitter with power. Sanchez is neither. He makes the lineup better, but, hey, you know who else would have made the lineup better? Felipe Lopez. You know, the guy whom the Brewers received for a couple of minor league tweaks. And then the Giants could have traded Alderson for another hitter. A Scott Barnes/Tim Alderson package wouldn't have been enough for Victor Martinez, but it would have been a heck of a start.

Charlie: Bucs Dugout

I'm excited to have Alderson in the organization, but the chance that the Pirates get nothing from this deal is fairly high, and I'm not sure Alderson's upside--I'd say he's a #3 or borderline #2 starter if all goes well--is worth it. I can certainly see why the Pirates made this move, and I think it's nice to balance the grab bags they got in the Jack Wilson and Nate McLouth trade with a riskier deal for more of a blue-chip player, but I'm not sure Alderson is the right blue-chip player. I really hope he proves me wrong, though.  

Fans Take:

18 Mile

Terrible

Alderson? I’m a bit shocked by this. Yes, there’s a chance that Alderson won’t make an impact in the majors. But even if he’s a #3 or borderline #2 … his value has to be higher than a Freddy Sanchez, a guy who’s only had 1 season in his career with an OPS > 800. A guy who had a sub-700 OPS last year. Let’s say he’s not as bad as he’s been in June-July (250/290/360 … 640 OPS), but not as good as he’s showing all this year, but a somewhere averaging his 2008 and 2009 numbers.

Aren’t they signing Edgar Renteria again, and hoping for the best case scenario?
Renteria in 2008: 270/320/380, 700 OPS, 10 HR, 6 SB, 3 CS, 37:64 K:BB.
Sanchez in 2008: 270/300/370, 670 OPS, 9 HR, 0 SB, 1 CS, 21:63 K:BB.

Barnes was expendable, as he wouldn’t have had a rotation spot on the Giants staff in 2011 or 2012. But Alderson? Assuming the Giants keep Lincecum, Cain and Bumgarner, and they stay healthy and pitch as expected, that’s a great 1-2 and Bumgarner will hopefully be fine as a 3. The Unit’s retired. Zito’s still on the books for nearly $40M and untradeable. Alderson was projected to be the SP4 in 2012. With him gone, that leaves one more spot. Maybe Jonathan Sanchez puts it together? Looking to rely on someone else being drafted who’s big league ready?

If a guy others project to be a #3 SP, borderline #2, is our #4, that’s not so bad. But it’s not the end of the world. He’s not untouchable.

But I would not have traded him for the 2009 version of Freddy Sanchez, who since June has been the 2009 version of Edgar Renteria.

Perfect MI duo:
2B: Sanchez: $6M in ’09, $8M in ’10. OPS of 650 since June ’09.
SS: Renteria: $7M in ’09, $9M in ’10. OPS of 625 in ’09.

I guess it’s inline with another big Sabean coup:
SP: Zito: $18.5M in ’09, $18.5M in ’10. 6-10, 4.5 ERA, 1.4 WHIP.

Giants must be planning on keeping Sanchez for ‘10 and maybe an extension.
And the Bucs really made out like bandits if they didn’t kick in any money for Sanchez’s salary this season.

Like anything in baseball, it could work out for the Giants, but I would say they could’ve done better; it’s like picking a guy in the first round that everyone else has projected to go in the 3rd round. Heeeeeyyyy … has anyone ever seen Sabean and Al Davis in the same room at the same time? Can we really verify that they’re actually 2 different people?