Giants Dilemma in 2009 - Trade Alderson or Bumgarner for Freddy Sanchez

There was a time when the fortunes of two baseball franchises could have been altered considerably based on one pivotal trade.

The Giants wanted and needed Freddie Sanchez's bat in their lineup. The Pirates needed a young, top-tier pitching talent. The Giants had two at the time, who were both pretty evenly rated, in some circles maybe the RHP was more highly regarded. RHP Tim Alderson and LHP Madison Bumgarner.
Bumgarner was actually drafted AFTER Alderson by the Giants, so he started out as the more highly regarded prospect by that measure. Some of the other particulars from back in the day are listed below.

Can you imagine the difference in baseball history if the Pirates had insisted that a young LHP named Madison Bumgarner had been included in the deal instead of RHP Tim Alderson? The paths of the two franchises might have diverged as much as the career paths of the two prospects, indeed they did!!

Alderson has struggled to make a name for himself at any level higher than AA and Madison Bumgarrner grew up to be....well Madison Bumgarner.

I shudder to think where the Giants would be had the Pirates insisted and the Giants had acquiesced in trading the prospect with the funny name, the questionable mechanics and the volatile demeanor.

from wikipedia.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dilemma

A dilemma (Greek: δίλημμα "double proposition") is a problem offering two ... In formal logic, the definition of a dilemma differs markedly from everyday usage.

from post-gazette.com

http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/pirates/2009/07/10/Pirates-Notebook-Sanchez-trade-not-imminent/stories/200907100157

Pirates Notebook: Sanchez trade not imminent

July 10, 2009 4:00 AM

According to one National League executive, the Pirates are pushing to trade all-star second baseman Freddy Sanchez.                                                          

San Francisco and Colorado are two teams with which the Pirates have spoken, the source said, but there are as many as four or five more.

The Giants apparently would be willing to move left-handed starter Jonathan Sanchez, currently a reliever. He alone could not complete a deal for Freddy Sanchez, but the Giants' system has plenty of pitching prospects.

from espn.com
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4364832

Sanchez to Giants for Alderson 8/1/2009

The San Francisco Giants, taking another step to upgrade the National League's 15th-ranked offense, acquired three-time All-Star Freddy Sanchez from Pittsburgh on Wednesday for pitching prospect Tim Alderson.

Sanchez, 31, won the National League batting title in 2006. He's hitting .296 this year and ranks fifth in the major leagues in doubles. He helps upgrade a San Francisco offense that ranks 15th in the National League in runs scored.

The Giants, 54-46 and tied with Colorado for first in the NL wild-card race, have remade the right side of their infield leading up to Friday's trade deadline. They acquired first baseman Ryan Garko in a trade with Cleveland on Monday, and will now plug in Sanchez at second base.

from thebaseballcube.com http://www.thebaseballcube.com/prospects/byTeam.asp?T=25

	2009 San Francisco Giants Prospects
Rank	Player	mlbRank	Position	High Level	Current Team
1	Madison Bumgarner	9	P	MLB	San Francisco Giants
2	Buster Posey	14	C	MLB	San Francisco Giants
3	Angel Villalona	44	1B	AA	Richmond (AA) >> San Francisco Giants
4	Tim Alderson	45	P	AAA	Harrisburg (AA) >> Washington Nationals
5	Nick Noonan		2B	MLB	Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (AAA) >> New York Yankees
6	Ehire Adrianza		SS	MLB	Sacramento (AAA) >> San Francisco Giants
7	Conor Gillaspie		3B	MLB	Chicago White Sox
8	Rafael Rodriguez		P	MLB	-
9	Scott Barnes		P	MLB	New Hampshire (AA) >> Toronto Blue Jays
10	Sergio Romo		P	MLB	San Francisco Giants
	2008 San Francisco Giants Prospects
Rank	Player	mlbRank	Position	High Level	Current Team
1	Angel Villalona	33	1B	AA	Richmond (AA) >> San Francisco Giants
2	Tim Alderson	84	P	AAA	Harrisburg (AA) >> Washington Nationals
3	Madison Bumgarner		P	MLB	San Francisco Giants
4	Nate Schierholtz		RF	MLB
5	Henry Sosa		P	MLB
6	Nick Noonan		2B	MLB	Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (AAA) >> New York Yankees
7	Eugenio Velez		2B-OF	MLB	Durham (AAA) >> Tampa Bay Rays
8	Wendell Fairley		RF-LF	AA
9	John Bowker		LF	MLB	Sacramento (AAA) >> San Francisco Giants
10	Emmanuel Burriss		SS	MLB

It was hard to tell on Draft Day 2007 who was the better prospect. They were both ranked as potential high 1st rounders, not much difference between the two guys. 

from milb.com

http://www.milb.com/milb/events/draft_report/y2007/index.jsp?mc=alderson

Biographical Data
Player Name:	Tim Alderson
Position:	Starting Pitcher
School:	Horizon High School, Scottsdale, AZ
School Type:	High school
Academic Class:	Senior
Birthdate:	11/03/88
Height:	6'7"
Weight:	210 lbs.
Bats:	Right
Throws:	Right
Report Date(s):	03/26/07
Game(s):	Bishop Gorman

Focus Area	Comments
Fastball:	Alderson's fastball sits in the 89-93 mph range and grades out as a solid-average to a tick above-average pitch.
Curve:	Alderson's curve has the chance to be a plus pitch in the future.
Changeup:	Alderson has a decent changeup, but doesn't need to use it much in high school.
Control:	Alderson has plus, plus command. He issued his first walk of the season in this start while striking out 13. Dating back to last year, he's walked nine and struck out 173.
Poise:	Alderson has excellent mound presence and poise, competing extremely well against a top-ranked opponent in Bishop Gorman.
Physical Description:	Alderson is a tall right-hander with an unorthodox delivery. He's athletic and coordinated on the mound and seems to handle his delivery fine.
Medical Update:	Healthy.
Strengths:	Chance to be three-pitch pitcher; a strike-throwing machine with a lot of deception in his delivery.
Weaknesses:	That delivery and arm action may scare some people off. He pitches exclusively from the stretch, something they start pitchers with in their freshman and sophomore seasons. Alderson stayed with it and made it work for him.
Summary:	With a unique delivery, pitching out of the stretch and unorthodox arm action, some teams may be wary. But Alderson has the chance to have three above-average pitches with outstanding command in a big, athletic package.

from milb.com

http://www.milb.com/milb/events/draft_report/y2007/tracker.jsp?mc=bumgarner

Biographical Data
Player Name:	Madison Bumgarner
Position:	Starting Pitcher
School:	South Caldwell H.S., Hudson, NC
School Type:	High School
Academic Class:	Senior
Birthdate:	08/01/89
Height:	6'5"
Weight:	220 lbs.
Bats:	Right
Throws:	Left
Report Date(s):	02/28/07
Game(s):	St. Stephens

Focus Area	Comments
Fastball:	Bumgarner's fastball has been clocked anywhere from 89-95 mph.
FB Movement:	Not surprisingly for a lefty, Bumgarner's fastball does have late life with some natural tail. When he's able to keep it down in the zone, it's got some sink and can routinely miss bats with it.
Curve/Slider:	Bumgarner only started throwing breaking stuff a year ago (kudos to dad), so these offerings lag behind the fastball. He throws a curve at around 70-73 mph and has a slider-like pitch at 75-79 mph. They are slurvy offerings with very lazy bite that is often too flat.
Changeup:	He doesn't throw it much because he doesn't need to, but he's shown a pretty good feel and command of the change at times, throwing it in the 79-82 mph range. He sometimes will leave the changeup in warmups and not throw it.
Control:	He's got pretty good command, especially for a hard-throwing high-schooler and was able to throw his fastball for strikes down in the zone.
Poise:	Bumgarner has good poise and mound presence.
Physical Description:	Bumgarner is a big, strong-bodied pitcher with a large, athletic frame from a Mark Mulder or Andy Pettitte mold.
Medical Update:	Healthy.
Strengths:	Plenty of fastball. He touched 95 and there's probably room for more there, with perhaps a ceiling of 97-98 mph possible.
Weaknesses:	The breaking stuff. The curve is well below-average but with more time and experience and his athletic ability, he should be able to develop it as a pro.
Summary:	Bumgarner certainly looks the part, with the body type and fastball of a professional pitcher. Lefties from the high school ranks with plus velocity like that don't come around very often. Any team who takes him will have to keep him from changing his arm angle on his breaking stuff, but chances are there will be many teams willing to give that a shot.