So the Giants maybe have a real chance of acquiring Prince Fielder from the Brewers. According to Mychael Urban of CSNBA, the Brewers want Jonathan Sanchez and minor leaguer Thomas Neal. Apparently some people over at mccoveychronicles don't think this trade would be a good idea. With that in mind, I will try to outline what exactly we would be giving up and getting HOLY SHIT DO YOU REALIZE WE COULD GET PRINCE FIELDER FOR JONATHAN SANCHEZ WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE ARE YOU INSANE?!?!?!Jonathan Sanchez is having a good year, with a 3.26 ERA, and a 1.234 WHIP, which is kind of high, but his WHIP is improving every year. Sanchez, age 27, has a career 4.52 ERA in over 500 innings, with a 1.409 WHIP. His career K/BB ratio is 2:1. Sanchez has had moments of brilliance this season, but he also frustrates because it seems like he still hasn't taken that big step he looks capable of.
Thomas Neal, 22, is playing in AA ball this year, with a line of .288/.350/.438. Last year Neal had a terrific year in San Jose, hitting .337/.439/.579. He was drafted by the Giants in the 36th round of the 2005 draft.
Prince Fielder is 26, and will be a free agent at the end of next season. Last year, Fielder hit .299/.412/.602, and was 2nd only to Albert Pujols in OPS, 1.014. Back in 2007, he had an almost identical year. 2008 was a down year for Fielder, with only a .879 OPS. The most similar players at his position around his age include Adrian Gonzalez, Justin Morneau, and Ryan Howard. If he makes it to free agency in 2011, expect him to sign a HUGE contract.
A HUGE contract would also be necessary to keep Fielder from getting to free agency. This is the entire key to this possible trade: Fielder must stay with the team more than a year and a half. Scott Boras is Fielder's agent, so Fielder rejecting an extension is a legitimate concern.
If this were a trade rumor that included Tim Lincecum or Matt Cain, I would understand the OVERWHELMING opposition to this trade that their seems to be among Giants fans. The fact is that the Giants have had a horrid offense for half a decade. Prince Fielder has twice in that half decade had an OPS over 1.000. The Giants also have one of the best pitching rotations in the majors. Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain are both #1 starters on most teams. Barry Zito is a good pitcher. Madison Bumgarner is projected to be at least a #3 on a good team. That is a lot more pitching than most teams have. Just imagine you had another pitcher, good, not great, and a team wanted to give you one of the top 10 hitters in the league for him. What is the hesitation here? Jonathan Sanchez is not good enough to stop us from finally replacing Barry Bonds. Can you please name for me a player other than Pujols, H. Ramirez, Mauer, A. Rodriguez, and M. Cabrera that is a better hitter than Fielder? And we're gonna let a 27 year old with a 4.50 career ERA stop us from getting that? And don't even mention Thomas Neal. He may be the most legit prospect, but I would gladly give up a 36th rounder with one good year in A ball to get a 26 year old with a .543 career slugging percentage.
I'm trying to understand this mindset that seems to put SO much into the vast fog of potential, and downplays proven ability and production at the major league level. We can finally get that guy we've wanted for so long, and a couple maybes are going to stop us?
It's actually my inclination to say that the Brewers would want more than this, that the Giants would be lucky to pull this trade off. Then again, the Mets got Johan Santana for Carlos Gomez and a bag of rocks.
Oh, but I forgot, Brian Sabean doesn't like phones. He's Paul Sorvino from Goodfellas. He sits in his house and has Bobby Evans go out into the rain to call other GM's from a pay phone. And Matt Cain has to hold the umbrella.
Yeah, I can understand how being able to re-sign him would be a big concern, and I guess it should be. But you shouldn't shy away from making trades for good players just because you don't think you can re-sign them. Otherwise, you'd never get good players. Only sissy teams would approach trading like that. You trade for a good player and if they play well for you, you do everything you can to re-sign them, and if that doesn't work you take the draft picks. But you just never be scared to improve your team just because a guy will be hard to extend. I mean, do fans really think you can get a game changing hitter without paying them a lot of money??? It's ridiculous.
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