Giants trade Jonathan Sanchez to Kansas City for Melky Cabrera | Extra Baggs

Interesting deal. A little stop-gap measure in CF. Say bye-bye to Torres. Keep the seat warm for Gary Brown in CF until 2012.

A bit of a disturbing trend in that Cabrera joins a team laden with guys whose resume includes the following phrases:

- "when healthy, he produces". Problem is, he's rarely healthy, always on the DL.
- "when he's in shape, he produces". Hmmmm.... that's like the guy at work who the boss says "when he shows up, he's a good worker". Those guys tend to get fired, or hurt morale.

Another "odd-even", "good year, bad year" guy. At least we traded a guy who has some of the same problems with inconsistent performance. The classic trade that hurts both teams.

A good deal for the Giants, if all the "ifs" come through.

Including Verdugo seemed like a bit much. He will advance easier through the Royals organization, perhaps starting for them at some point. He's a high-K, high-BB LHP prospect. Seems like you have to be more patient with those. He misses bats and keeps the ball in the park, so in a good pitchers park, he could really shine. KC has one of those as well.

We do seem to be getting a bit light on the LHP side of the ledger.

Giants trade Jonathan Sanchez to Kansas City for Melky Cabrera | Extra Baggs:

"Sanchez misses bats as well as anyone, he has great stuff and he’ll forever be a breakout candidate. But he led the NL in walks in 2010 and then his walk rate went up this past season. He wasn’t a picnic for the coaching staff to deal with, and while he was on disabled-list limbo with mild elbow tendinitis, he told me he felt underappreciated by the organization. I know those comments did not go over well in the front office. All of that added up to a non-tender move, especially after the Giants basically spent Sanchez’s money on lefties Javier Lopez and Jeremy Affeldt.

Still, they were able to turn Sanchez into Cabrera, and sure, he is neither a premium defender nor does he walk enough for a leadoff man. But he is coming off a 200-hit, 100-run season and he’s entering the prime of his career. The Giants were able to sell low and buy high, all while plugging in a player at a position of need and saving a few bucks. They also found a way to get a center fielder without blocking top prospect Gary Brown."