Brian Sabean, I'm Sorry

Back in my early days of blogging, I was a little more of a loose cannon.  When the Giants traded pitching prospect Tim Alderson for Freddy Sanchez in July of 2009 I pretty much bashed Giants GM Brian Sabean calling him "a horrible General Manager ."

Tim Alderson: "Have you seen
my fastball?"

Now, some could still say that Brian Sabean is still a horrible manager, I still believe that he rode the Barry Bonds train for too long and Francisco Liriano and Joe Nathan are still on the Twins, but it wouldn't be because of that Tim Alderson/Freddy Sanchez deal.

In Keith Law's chat on ESPN today there was this exchange:

Justin (San Diego)

What happened to Tim Alderson? He went from top 100 prospect to a fringe prospect in a matter of a year.

Klaw

  (1:33 PM)

Lost his velocity. Don't see him ever getting back.

A quick Google check will show me that Tim Alderson had a 6.98 ERA in 38.2 A+ innings and a 5.62 ERA in 89.2 AAA innings this year in Pirates minor league system.  Freddy Sanchez meanwhile put up 2.7 WAR this year and is the starting 2b in the World Series for the Giants and he even hit 3 doubles in game one just for kicks.

I think it's safe to say this trade was a win, a big win for the Giants.

It's also safe to say that I'm sorry, Brian Sabean.