I was all set to write about this weekend's upcoming series with the Padres when the Jose Guillen trade story dropped this morning. At the time of this writing, it's unclear how often he will start or who we gave up for him. What we do know is that Guillen's ex-employer, the Kansas City Royals, will pay for a substantial portion of the $12 million that's owed him on his current contract.
Fan reaction has ranged from a head-scratching minority to an I'm-ready-to-slit-my-wrists/bomb-Sabean's-house combination from the majority. The doomsayers are bringing up the fact that he seems to be quite the head case, his defense is bad , and although he has power, he has demonstrated a poor ability to get on base.
I don't necessarily disagree with that assessment of him, especially the defense. A Guillen-Burrell-Torres outfield would indeed be pretty horrible defensively, besides Torres. But I'm also not banging my head against the wall and screaming "WHY!" (Some fans are. Check out some Giants fan sites if you don't believe it). I shrug my shoulders at this trade under the following conditions: No high rated prospects are given up, Burrell's playing time is unaffected, and the warm and fuzzy Giants clubhouse can absorb his negativity as if it were a sponge. Big if's, for sure, but it's also a big if that he's going to be completely mishandled.
Check out this possible lineup:
Torres CF
Posey C
Huff 1B
Burrell LF
Guillen RF
Sandoval 3B
Uribe SS
Sanchez 2B
Pitcher
See, that was easy! I neither want to slit my wrists nor bomb Sabean's house looking at this lineup (offensively at least). My usual issues with Sabean is that he is short-sighted at the expense of the future. This season has been one of his better ones. He struck gold with Huff and Burrell. He struck at least bronze with Fontenot. Is Guillen gold or pyrite or somewhere in between? The bottom line for me is this pennant race. Guillen, if handled smartly, seems like he would neither put it at risk or hurt it.
Although I may feel differently depending on how this Padres series goes.
Guillen is past it but this isn't a terrible trade. Just a meh, whatever, trade.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I just hope that they don't put too much on his shoulders. They don't need to really. It all depends how they use him. You'd be surprised though, at how many Giants fans are insanely angry about this.
ReplyDeleteThey probably should use him very sparingly. He really isn't a starter anymore. He is probably good for a few pinch hits and maybe a start a week.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately it looks like Bochy's going to start him at RF, 4-5 times a week, he says.
ReplyDeleteThen you may be in trouble. He was a solid player once upon a time. At this point I think he is on the last legs of his career.
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