Rowand for Fukudome? Yes, Please.

First of all, I'm gonna apologize for not posting anything over the last couple of weeks. With finals going on for both of us, we decided to take a break. But we're back and ready to go with the news this morning that the Giants and Cubs have discussed an Aaron Rowand-Kosuke Fukudome trade, according to Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com.

It's no surprise that Rowand is being shopped - he has a huge contract, isn't good, and as the roster currently stands, it doesn't seem like there is room for him. And this particular rumor is especially appealing because almost everything about Fukudome is better than Rowand. His 2010, which wasn't too far off his career numbers (.259/.368/.410/.778), looked like this: .263/.371/.439/.810 in 429 PAs. Fukudome strikes out quite a bit (20.8% career) but his career walk rate (14.7%) is very good. Rowand had an OBP under .300 last year and has a career walk rate of 5.6%. It's pretty clear who the better offensive player is.

I've always assumed that when getting rid of Rowand, the Giants would have to pay most of the salary and get nothing back in return besides a crappy reliever. As I mentioned above, Rowand pretty much has to go because the Giants have too many outfielders - Burrell, Torres, Ross, Schierholtz, Rowand, DeRosa, Huff/Belt. Getting rid of Rowand for nothing would solve the outfield overcrowding problem. But adding another OF like Fukudome means another outfielder would have to go, most likely Schierholtz. Luckily, Fukudome isn't terrible on defense and defense is really the only reason Nate is still around. As a right fielder, he's fared pretty well according to UZR, with scores of 6.0 in 2008, 7.8 in 2009, and dropping off a bit in 2010 at -4.4. He is 33 and isn't likely to improve much on defense, but he won't clog up the outfield either.

I thought maybe the only other player the Giants could get in return for Rowand would be one with a bad contract. While Fukudome does make $13.5 million (way too much), it's only for one more year and his contract is actually better than Rowand's, which has 2 years and $24 million left. For this reason, I can't understand why the Cubs would do the deal. Crasnick does say the trade is a long shot. Maybe the Cubs want to save money this year? The Giants would probably throw some money into the deal, but it still seems weird. In the end, all the evaluations of Fukudome as a player don't matter because we know these two things: he's a better player with a better contract. And Rowand would finally be gone. Please make it happen, Sabez.

Game Recap: SF 5, CHI 4

Barry Zito was not very good tonight. He gave up 10 hits in 6.1 innings, the last one a HR that allowed the Cubs to tie the game for the 2n time in the game. Thankfully, the Giants offense was there for him tonight. They put together 3 runs in the 1st inning, the biggest hit being a 2 run RBI single by Pat "Why am I not hitting cleanup" Burrell. Barry Zito was good until the 6th inning, when he gave up 2 runs to tie the game. Then Aaron Rowand hit a HR, showcasing the only part of his game that still has value to the team. It was a great HR for Rowand, but hopefully it doesn't mean a ton of playing time. After the Cubs tied it at 3-3 on Cubs' rookie Tyler Colvin's 18th HR of the season, Sergio Romo came in to relieve Zito. On his first pitch he hit Starlin Castro, but then got 5 straight outs. Pat Burrell came up in the bottom of the 8th inning and hit his 8th HR as a Giant, raising his season OPS above .800, quite an accomplishment considering he was a .625 when he left Tampa Bay. It was all Brian Wilson needed, as he got the final 3 outs of the game, a game the Giants needed to win to stay close to the Padres, who have the luxury of playing Pittsburgh this week. Pablo Sandoval had 2 more hits, including a very pretty double to the gap in right center. Maybe he is ba...NO!

Lastly, one negative comment: Freddy Sanchez is back hitting 2nd. I don't know why.

Game Recap: FLA 4, SF 3

It's interesting that even when the Giants are hot, they never go on winning streaks. Even during this stretch where they've won 16 of 21 games, their longest winning streak has been 5 games. Maybe that's a good thing because it means they've been consistently good. But tonight, they were not very good and it was mostly the fault of the offense.

Specifically, the offense was terrible in the first 6 innings, never even getting close to scoring a run. Ricky Nolasco shut them down. But as soon as Nolasco came out of the game and I tweeted this, magic was in the air. Aaron Rowand came in to pinch hit for Travis Ishikawa, which seemed like a questionable move to me, but he proceeded to hit a two-run homer to cut the Marlins lead down to 3-2. Let me break it down for you: Aaron Rowand saved the day. Amazing. The Giants were still losing, but there was hope.

Unfortunately, the bullpen was not very good again. In the top of the 8th inning, Guillermo Mota allowed a run scoring double, giving the Marlins a 4-2 lead. It'd be nice to solve that problem. Soon.

In the bottom of the 9th inning the Giants tried really hard to come back, but ultimately failed. Andres Torres grounded out to bring a run home, but then up came Edgar Renteria. Up to that point in the game he had been 0-for-4 with 2 K's. Well, he struck out to end the game with a runner on 3rd, so make that 0-for-5 with 3 K's. Ouch.

Barry Zito didn't pitch great: 6 1/3 IP, 8 H, 3 ER with 1 BB and 3 K's. But he wasn't terrible either, and when a pitcher only allows 3 runs through 6 innings, a good offense will get that pitcher the win. You've gotta feel a little bad for the guy, and Zito's hard luck continued as he fell to 8-6.

A win would've been extra sweet tonight because not many teams have beaten the guy who is pitching for the Marlins tomorrow. Josh Johnson has a 1.61 and a WHIP under 1 and he is the leading contender for the Cy Young Award this year (screw Ubaldo Jimenez). Fortunately for San Francisco Giants fans everywhere, 8thInningWeirdness will be at the game tomorrow night and we have an impeccable W-L record. Believe it. Even though it's not true.

Big Z a Giant?

In our second installment of "Trade rumors that will be forgotten and never mentioned again due to their obvious unlikelihood in hindsight", the Giants have been mentioned in a Carlos Zambrano article by Tim Dierkes over at mlbtraderumors.com. In his effort to find a team with overpaid players that could be traded for Zambrano, Edgar Renteria and Aaron Rowand have been proposed. If traded, their combined salaries would be $36 million, which means the Giants would take on $9 million extra with Zambrano.

When I first saw this, I thought, how could the Giants possibly pull off getting Carlos Zambrano for Edgar Renteria and Aaron Rowand? Then I thought, why would we trade for a pitcher? Then I thought, Renteria and Rowand? How? Is Zambrano having that bad of a year? Is he that horrible of a human being? You have to be a horrible human being to be traded for Aaron Rowand's contract, right?

If this trade is possible, which I seriously doubt, there is no question the Giants should go for it. Zambrano has a career 3.58 ERA, 9th best among active pitchers with enough innings, and he has never had a year with an ERA over 4.00. He's 29. His ERA is 5.66 this year, but if you disregard his Opening Day start, where he gave up 8 runs in 1.1 innings, it's 4.47. Is this a pitcher that should be banished to the bullpen, with the track record he has? I understand the character issues Zambrano brings with him, but I'm willing to take that risk if it means getting rid of Aaron Rowand's playing issues.

Lincecum, Zito, Cain, Sanchez/Bumgarner, Zambrano?