Brian Sabean Considers the San Francisco Giants Lucky to Be in 1st Place

The San Francisco Giants won the World Series, and they have a chance to accomplish something very special: a successful defense of their crown.  It doesn't happen very often and hasn't happened at all in the NL since the 1975, 1976 Big Red Machine pulled it off.  The fact is that most teams win and then suffer a letdown the following year.  They either lose key players to trades, free agency or injury, causing them to slide in the standings or miss the postseason all together.

This Giants team has certainly suffered more than its fair share of injuries, but the pitching may actually be better this year than it was last year when it lead them to the championship.  The offense is worse this year, but the team is still in prime position to defend their title.  As the non-waiver trade deadline approaches, Brian Sabean knows that he has an opportunity to achieve. 

Brian Sabean has really been beat up over the years by the media and by the fans for not getting the proverbial big bat or for making some magical move that would instantly put a ring on the fingers of the players on the team.  He has taken an equal amount of heat for some of his ill-advised free agent signings, all of which were not necessarily his sole decision.

Sabean made a small, low on the radar trade yesterday.  The pickup of Jeff Keppinger for two midlevel minor league pitchers, who realistically were never going to pitch for the parent club, is more of a significant move than it first appears to be.  Sabean's comments to the media after the trade was announced were music to my ears.

Sabean said that he came out of a weekly meeting with his decision making team with the mindset that they are lucky to be 15 games over .500, and they can't realistically expect that the pitching would continue to carry this team while the offense continues to flail, um, fail.

Sabean said that he is acutely aware of the shortcomings of the team and will do what he can to improve it offensively, regardless of available players and team needs.  He also said that MLB knows who is untouchable on the Giants.

Some people read that last statement as meaning that Gary Brown and Zack Wheeler are untouchable; I don't think that is the case at all.  I think he meant that Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum, Madison Bumgarner, Brian Wilson and Sergio Romo are all untouchable. 

Outside of those guys, I think that maybe, just maybe, Brandon Belt is close to their status, but in my opinion Sabean should and would listen to requests about all other players.

Zack Wheeler could be the centerpiece of a trade for Carlos Beltran, but then again so could Jonathan Sanchez, Gary Brown or even Belt.  I think Sabean knows what is too much to give up for a rental player (multiple top prospects), but if a Beltran could be had for one top prospect and a couple of lesser players, I think he'd pull the trigger pretty quickly.

What it comes down to is this pitching staff is historically good.  The staff as a whole has not shown any signs of letting up.  They seem to feed off one another, each hoping to better the performance that they are following.  If the pitchers can continue to dominate as they have, isn't it Sabean's responsibility as the general manager to do everything he can to get them some more run support?

Right now the Giants can win the World Series again.  They could pitch lights out and hope that all the breaks go their way, leave it somewhat up to chance.  They could also make a bold move at the end of July to strengthen such an obvious weakness and bring the odds of a repeat more onto their side.

There are certainly no guarantees, but scoring runs when your team doesn't give up many is getting pretty close to a guarantee.  We all know that the goal is to get to the postseason because once there, anything can happen. 

I believe that as presently constituted, this team will make the postseason barring any more devastating injuries.  They will struggle to get through a short series against Philadelphia or Atlanta though because they can't score runs.

In weighing the options in front of him, it should be a fairly easy decision for Sabean to make.  If he can trade a highly touted, yet severely unproven pitcher like Zack Wheeler for a proven run producer like Beltran, he should do it. 

I have faith that Sabean will do the right thing.  He gets it, and he is good at what he does.