Thursday, July 28, 2011

Giants Hear Dodgers' Footsteps, Trade Future For Beltran

Worried about the Dodgers' climb up the divisional charts, Carlos Beltran is moving from the Mets to the Giants for the stretch run.

The San Francisco Giants reached agreement on a deal to send top pitching prospect Zach Wheeler to the New York Mets for Beltran and financial considerations, and by Wednesday evening, Beltran reportedly was winging his way from Cincinnati to Philadelphia to join manager Bruce Bochy’s club and take his free-agent showcase to the next level.

When the deal is official, Beltran is expected to play right field and bat third for the Giants, who improved their record to 60-44 with a 2-1 win over the Phillies on Wednesday. [...]

Beltran will fill a mega-void in the middle of the order for the Giants, who rank 15th in the National League with 373 runs scored, and are among the bottom five in the league in hits, home runs and total bases. If he doesn’t embody what they need, he certainly comes close. [...]

It’s no secret in baseball circles that Giants general manager Brian Sabean has been focusing on upgrades at shortstop and catcher for a while. Miguel Tejada, on the disabled list with a lower abdominal strain, can still hit well enough to get by, but his lack of range was readily apparent in spring training. Mike Fontenot is a handy utility player, and rookie Brandon Crawford has promise, but they’re not going to make anyone forget Rich Aurilia.

The Giants also need help at catcher, where Eli Whiteside and Chris Stewart are hitting a combined .220 with three home runs in 225 at-bats in place of the injured Buster Posey. Maybe catching is an item Sabean can address next month. After all, the Giants picked up [Cody] Ross off waivers from Florida last August, and all he did was slug .686 in the postseason and win the NLCS Most Valuable Player award to become a magnet for boos in Philly.

Okay, 15th out of 16th offense. Let's see if this move stops you from watching the Dodgers' ascent up the standings.

13 comments:

Kyle Baker said...

Ascent - that means up, right?

Steve Sax said...

homer bailey badge achieved

rbnlaw said...

Why don't you start a blog where all you write about is the Giants?

. . .oh wait.

I hear Ned is on the phone checking on the availability of Aaron Rowand as we speak. Look for Furcal for Rowand, straight-up.

Steve Sax said...

what about velez for cain

spank said...

Do you peeps know that kenley Jansen was hospitalized last night for an irregular heartbeat.

Cc: Hardball Talk

Steve Sax said...

Yeah that happened Tuesday night

Mr. LA Sports Czar said...

Hideki Irabu, dead at 42.

Let us remember him with a clip from Seinfeld.

http://youtu.be/dzeuvZc1KI8

Steve Sax said...

Brad Penny was shelled by Angels; he lasted 3.1 IP in the 12-7 loss

Fred's Brim said...

yikes - suicide is suspected, that's no good at all :(

I just bashed him and Kei Igawa on this very blog a couple of days ago

rbnlaw said...

That Seinfeld clip was the first thing I thought of when I heard about Hideki.

Jason said...

Yunel Escobar becomes badge #100 for me.

Fernie V said...

Badges what this talk about stinking badges.

Josh S. said...

This video is hilarious for two reasons.

1. Carlos Beltran almost blows out his knee in his first game as a Giant.
2. Despite Beltran being the highest-profile trade of the season, Kuiper forgets he's playing and calls him Schierholtz.