Fire Sale !!!!

Well Ray Durham is gone and the Giants basically got a twelve pack of Keystone in return. Not Bud or Coors, Keystone. Whatever. Not sure exactly what Durham is worth but it does make room for Velez, Burriss or Frandsen when he returns. The youth movement begins. Finding someone to take Dave Roberts might be asking too much but Winn and Aurilia should get some higher prospects if there is a contending team needing help on the bench. Winn in particular would be a nice asset. Heres a portion of the article on the Giants website:

The Giants made it clear they'd be open to moving their other veterans, Rich Aurilia and Winn in particular, if suitable offers present themselves. Taschner, who was originally rumored to be part of the Milwaukee deal, has drawn substantial interest, too.

"We will be as active as we can," Sabean said. Regarding possibly obtaining a player who might help immediately as well as in the future: "You have to listen. You never know what is going to get thrown your way and that kind of a deal would be attractive."

No potential deal, though, would include any of the club's young pitchers, Sabean said. The Giants also have no interest in acquiring a "rent-a-player."

With this deal, San Francisco adds to its increasingly formidable farm system. Neither Triple-A Nashville lefty pitcher Steve Hammond nor Class A Brevard County center fielder Darren Ford are top prospects, but adding them while clearing salary made it easy for the Giants to pull the trigger.

In four starts at Triple-A, Hammond has struggled, allowing 14 runs in 17 innings. But the 26-year-old Vallejo native was decent at Double-A Huntsville, maintaining a 3.45 ERA in 88 2/3 innings.

Noted for his speed, Ford, 22, is the more heralded player. Baseball America rated him the fastest baserunner and the best defensive outfielder in the Brewers' Minor League organization. He has 48 stolen bases, currently second best in the Minors. Ford's offense is his downside -- he's batting just .230 with 88 strikeouts.

It's more than likely the players won't help the Giants this season. The significance of this trade, though, reverberates beyond 2008 -- it's another step towards rebuilding the club during what has been a bumpy beginning to the post-Barry Bonds era.

So Hammond won't help the bullpen and Ford can't hit. Nice. Nice going. When I imagine Brian Sabean building a team from scratch why does it make my schpincter itch? In other Giant news Bruce Bochy formally declared Taschner as the setup man comng in on the 7th inning, followed by Tyler Walker in the 8th and finally, in theory, Brian Wilson to close. Anyone see anything wrong with this? I guess I would feel a whole lot better if, say, the Rays came calling, needing a body, any body, for the starting rotation and we gave them Barry Zito! That would make my schpincter feel real good.

boston sucks

detoxify