5 Dodgers-Giants Trades That Would Solve Both Teams' Problems

The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants are two teams that don't regularly do business with one another. According to Baseball-Reference.com, the Dodgers and Giants haven't made a trade since 2007. The last deal between the two before that came in the 1980s.

This is because the two of them are division rivals, you see. Division rivals don't like to do business, especially not when two division rivals like the ones in question here have a longstanding hatred for one another.

So in the next three or four days before MLB's July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, don't expect to see a deal go down between the Dodgers and Giants. It's not going to happen.

But if something were to happen...

What the heck. Nothing wrong with entertaining a hypothetical. If the Dodgers and Giants do decide to do business, here are five trades that could be made that would be beneficial for both clubs.

Note: All stats come from Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted. Trades are ranked by how realistic they are, but take that for what it's worth.

5. Brandon Belt for James Loney and Javy Guerra

"Wait a second...Trade Brandon Belt?!"

Oh, come on, Giants fans. Don't act like you guys haven't been calling for Belt to be traded over the last few weeks. And don't act like you're not fed up with him after watching him hit .137 with a .176 slugging percentage this month.

Also, don't act like Belt has a ton of value out on the trade market. He doesn't.

But the Dodgers would do this deal. Half the reason they'd do it would be to get rid of James Loney, who hasn't given them the kind of power they were hoping for out of the first base spot in their lineup this season.

Loney is a better fit for the Giants than he is for the Dodgers. Power isn't his game. Line drives are his game, and AT&T Park is a much better place for line drives than Dodger Stadium. The fact that Loney has a higher career slugging percentage in San Francisco than he does in Los Angeles pretty much confirms that notion.

Trading Belt for Loney straight up wouldn't work seeing as how Belt is young and controllable and Loney is a free agent at the end of the season (an easily re-signable one, mind you). That's why Javy Guerra would have to be included in the deal.

Guerra started the season as the Dodgers' closer, but he wasn't able to hold that job for very long. He's now being used as a middle reliever.

The appeal for the Giants is that Guerra has an ERA under 3.00 in non-save situations. He could provide them with some much-needed bullpen depth, and he's not due to hit free agency for a few more years.

If parting with him and Loney means getting a first baseman with power and a high floor, that's a deal the Dodgers should do.

4. Aubrey Huff for Steve Ames

Aubrey Huff last played in a game on June 10, a few days before Matt Cain's perfect game.

He ended up hurting his knee while celebrating Cain's perfecto, and has been on the disabled list ever since. 

The club's official website reports that Huff is close to re-joining the team. There will be a role for him to play if Pablo Sandoval has to go on the DL with a bad wheel, but not a big one. If Sandoval is able to avoid the DL, there will be even less of a role for Huff on the Giants.

The Dodgers could use him. Similar to Belt, Huff would be an upgrade over Loney at first base because Huff has considerably more power. He could also be used as a power lefty bat off the bench, which is yet another thing the Dodgers could use.

So who is Steve Ames?

He's a low-level right-handed prospect. According to Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus, his future is as a middle reliever and nothing more.

There's some intrigue where Ames is concerned, though. He doesn't have great stuff, but he has 1.90 ERA in 41 appearances for Double-A Chattanooga this season. He's probably not cut out to be a closer, but he's effective.

The Giants could use a middle reliever, and Ames is a guy they could use as soon as 2013.

With Jeremy Affeldt and Guillermo Mota set to come off the books, the Giants are going to find middle relief help this winter either way. Trading for Ames would save them some trouble.

3. Andrew Susac for Garret Gould

The Giants have one of the best offensive catchers in all of baseball in Buster Posey, and Hector Sanchez has proven to be a more-than-adequate backup. He holds his own quite well when Posey needs a day off or a day at first base.

Both Posey and Sanchez are going to be around for a while. Posey doesn't hit free agency until 2017, Sanchez until 2018.

As long as they're around, Andrew Susac's path to the big leagues is blocked. That makes him trade bait.

Susac has value on the trade market. Baseball America ranked him as the Giants' sixth-best prospect before the start of the season, and the thinking is that he could eventually have 20-homer power. 

The Dodgers don't have a catcher like Susac in their system, and that's an issue that they should address seeing as how A.J. Ellis is not a long-term solution. Susac is a player they should be interested in.

To get him, they could send one of their top pitching prospects to the Giants, who are surprisingly short on pitching prospects these days. Garret Gould would do nicely, as he doesn't project as the kind of dominant strikeout artist that teams covet. The Dodgers can part with him.

Gould is appealing for the Giants because he's a strike-thrower who pitches to contact pretty well for a prospect. In the future, he'd be a great No. 3 or No. 4 in the Giants' rotation, with a profile similar to that of Ryan Vogelsong.

2. Tommy Joseph for Allen Webster

If the Giants would prefer to hang on to Brandon Belt, they're going to have a decision to make regarding Tommy Joseph's future with the club. He's either going to be a first baseman or a catcher, and the Giants won't need one of either if they keep Belt paired with Posey for the long run.

Just like Susac, Joseph is a guy who will have some value out on the trade market if the Giants decide to shop him. The Dodgers would be interested, naturally, because they don't have a power-hitting first base prospect down on the farm.

Since we're talking about a top Giants prospect, the trade would have to involve a top Dodgers prospect. Asking for Zach Lee would be asking too much. 

Asking for Allen Webster, on the other hand...

Webster is generally regarded as the Dodgers' No. 2 prospect, and he projects as a sinker-changeup guy who could be as good as a No. 2 starting pitcher.

The Giants don't have a pitcher who projects as a No. 2 starter in their system at the moment, and that's a problem. Tim Lincecum is probably done with the Giants after the 2013 season, and the ideal scenario involves the Giants replacing him with a young, cheap starting pitcher.

Somebody like Webster.

Think of this swap as being similar to the Jesus Montero-Michael Pineda swap. One team would get a much-needed young hitter, and the other would get a much-needed young pitcher.

1. Juan Rivera for Gregor Blanco

Both the Dodgers and the Giants need outfield help. The Dodgers need a quality bat that they can plug into left field, and it would be a bonus if the guy they got could play a little defense too. The Giants need a right-handed bat for their outfield, preferably one with power.

So why don't they just swap Juan Rivera and Gregor Blanco?

Playing time has become hard to come by for Rivera ever since Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier both got healthy. Bobby Abreu is getting most of the playing time in left, and Don Mattingly is just as likely to go to Jerry Hairston if he wants a right-handed bat in the lineup as he is to go to Rivera.

Rivera would be useful for the Giants because he could form a left/right platoon with Nate Schierholtz, who has been playing more and more ever since Blanco started slumping.

Blanco's appeal to the Dodgers would be as a leadoff hitter. Their leadoff hitters have posted a .275 on-base percentage this season, one of the lowest figures in all of baseball.

Blanco isn't a great leadoff man, but he'd represent an upgrade for the Dodgers. When batting leadoff this season, he's posted a .334 on-base percentage.

Furthermore, Blanco is a very good defensive player. If he were to play alongside Matt Kemp, not much would get past LA's outfield.

What we have here is a good, old-fashioned baseball trade.

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