Jose Guillen is a Giant...I Think

Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes has reported via Twitter that a trade for Jose Guillen is close to being finished, and that if it were finished in time, he would play in Friday's game against San Diego. There is no news on who he has possibly been traded for, but this post will be updated when that is known. It is also very possible that the Giants will get Guillen without giving up anything at all.

If this is true, now we have to consider 2 things: was it a good move by Brian Sabean, and how will Jose Guillen fit in. The first can't be totally analyzed until we know what Brian Sabean gave up, but for now we will assume it was either a very unspectacular minor leaguer, or nothing at all. In that case, Jose Guillen does improve the team. He is a better hitter than Nate Schierholtz, and probably Travis Ishikawa. When he isn't playing, he is probably the best pinch hitting option on the bench. It's easy, in fact, to see him as another Aaron Rowand. Not a great hitter by any means, but at least a moderate power threat. And like Rowand, his defense isn't great, although he supposedly has a cannon of an arm. Unlike Rowand, he doesn't cost $60 million. He probably costs nothing, so in that case he's perfectly fine to have on the team. Looks like when he starts he would play right field, with Huff moving to 1st base to replace Ishikawa.
Here are some of Guillen's numbers:

Career: .270/.322/.441/.762
2010: .255/.314/.429/.743

Clearly not great numbers, especially when you consider his average at best defense. But the Giants are hoping he can hit for some of the power he has in previous years, such as in '03, '04, '05, and '07, when he hit 31, 27, 24, and 23 Hr's respectively. It's a hope, but so were Aubrey Huff and Pat Burrell, and they have been fantastic. This season, Guillen has 16 Hr's, but that's accompanied by his 2nd lowest OBP of his career.

So Guillen is not the bat the Giants really could have used, but he's useful given our current options. His main downside is in fact his attitude. He is considered by some to be almost as volatile as Milton Bradley. That's a concern, because the Giants clubhouse does not need any disruption. However, you have to think that a player coming over from the Royals to a contending team in August isn't going to immediately stir the pot. You'd think...