San Francisco Giants' Inactivity at the Deadline Simply Adds to the Confusion

For a team that had rumors swirling about before the trade deadline, the only thing that occurred as the deadline passed was inactivity.

The only trade that was actually pulled off was sending second baseman Ray Durham to Milwaukee for a couple of minor leaguers.

Satisfied? Not really.

The Giants had pieces to trade and didn’t come close to pulling the trigger. While general manager Brian Sabean may say that things are “still an ongoing process,” the inactivity shows that the price he wanted teams to pay was too high for possible suitors.

Randy Winn, despite what the organization might have said about him being under contract and that being so valuable, was one of the best outfielders on the market. It’s not like he would bring in a blue-chip prospect or two, but he would demand somebody of importance.

However, the Giants held the price too high, scaring off teams who needed an outfielder for the playoff push.

Rich Aurilia would be a perfect player to come off the bench for a contending team. He’s a guy who can pinch hit and play multiple infield position. Who wouldn’t want that?

And the Giants' biggest trade chip, catcher Bengie Molina, was not moved. While there were rumors that the New York Yankees were interested in him before they traded for Pudge Rodriguez, it would have been hard to believe he would be traded.

For a team that scores no runs, Molina has driven them in. While 21-year-old catcher Pablo Sandoval has been impressive in the minors this year (.350 BA, 18 HR, 87 RBI), it would be hard to imagine the Giants parting ways with their backstop, no matter what offer was out there.

While these players can still get through waivers, which they likely will in the next few days, not pulling the trigger now shows that there are still the roadblocks preventing the younger players from proving themselves on an everyday basis.

"We're confident that this is an ongoing process," Sabean said in a conference call with reporters. "It's not like our players aren't going to get through waivers."

Remember, Fred Lewis wasn’t slated to be the everyday left fielder that he has become. An injury to Dave Roberts in the opening moments of the season allowed Lewis to prove his worth.

The Giants keep saying that the kids will get their chance, but they said that same song and dance weeks ago.

Eugenio Velez was supposed to get most of the time at second base after the Durham trade, but regular third baseman Jose Castillo shifted across the infield to play at second, leaving Velez in the same spot he was at the beginning of the year...on the bench and not gaining the experience he obviously needs.

So the Giants are left, in the final two months of a season, 19 games under .500 and 11 games out of first place in the majors’ worst division.

While there may be hopes amongst the hierarchy that they could still contend for the division crown, mainly because of some of the best young pitching in the league, those thoughts should be thrown out immediately.

An interesting stat recently said that, including AA and AAA, the Giants have the fourth-fewest amount of home runs in the majors.

So a team that has no power and has scored the third fewest runs in the majors thinks they can contend? Bud Selig should immediately administer a piss test.