Say Whaaaaaaat?

The Giants just traded pitcher Tim Alderson for Freddy Sanchez.

That may seem similar to the Giants traded pitcher Scott Barnes for Ryan Garko headline, but it isn't. Tim Alderson is one heck of a pitcher. Not that the Giants didn't overpay for Garko, but they really and I mean really overpaid for Freddy freakin' Sanchez. Freddy Sanchez is a nice player, he hits .300 and plays some nice defense at a weak position. But Sanchez is over 30 and is owed $8m next year and in reality isn't a huge upgrade over Juan Uribe. Tim Alderson is a top 50 prospect and one of the best pitching propsects in the game. In 145.1 innings last year in A+ Alderson had a 2.64 FIP. In 72.2 innings so far this year in AA he has a 3.53 FIP. Not that Giants GM Brian Sabean is looking at FIPs but his ERAs are just as good, 2.79 last year and 3.47 this year. There is no underlying hard to see goodness here, Alderson is a sweet top prospect. He's arguably better than Kyle Drabek who the Phillies wouldn't trade for Roy Halladay or Cliff Lee! But apparently he's good enough for Freddy Sanchez.

Not too long ago a friend asked me if the Giants GM was any good. He saw that the Giants had the young Kung-Foo Panda tearing it up in the majors, knew Buster Posey was a top prospect, and was aware that that pitching prospects Bumgarner and Alderson would compliment Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain very nicely in the Giants future rotation. I told him he used to get some flack for being a bad GM just caddying Bonds to division titles and leaving the team in a mess once he left. But, that you kind of have to give him credit for the young players he's developed recently. It was essentially a complicated answer but this trade just made it very easy one, Brian Sabean is a horrible General Manager.

Neil Huntington on the other hand? He may not of gotten the best deal for Nate McClouth or Jason Bay, but he's given the Pirates a whole lot of good prospects and shed a whole lot of salary. And for a team that is "rebuilding" there isn't much more you could ask for.