Brian Sabean is a Dumb Ass

There’s no two ways about it: Giants general manager Brian Sabean is a dumb ass.  According to Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News after a conversation with Brian Sabean, Sabean is “actively looking for a bat on the trade market,” “he is now considering players who are impending free agents” and he “is willing to trade minor league talent, but not impact prospects.”  That means former first round draft picks Tim Alderson, Madison Bumgarner and Buster Posey are safe, but Sabean will consider trading just about anyone else.

This is the kind of dumb-ass thinking from Sabean that has brought the Giants four consecutive losing seasons, a San Francisco record equaled only by the years of futility from 1974-1977.  I almost hope the Giants finish below .500 this year, so that the new ownership group led by Bill Neukum will finally fire Sabean’s dumb ass.  Frankly, even the idea of such a trade is stupid: what kind of hitter are the Giants going to get who could really help them in 2009, if they are only willing to give up B-grade talent?  This kind of trade is all down-side: the Gints get a veteran, player who has amply proven his mediocrity, and the B grade prospect at least has a chance of blossoming into a star and surprising everyone.

The Baggarly blog post also states that the Giants intend to take playing time away from Travis Ishikawa and Emmanuel Burriss in favor of Jesus Guzman and Kevin Frandsen.  O.K., Ishakawa has hit poorly and Guzman was killing the ball at AAA Fresno, so that piece is a no-brainer; but taking time away from Burriss to play Frandsen?  Frandsen is now 0 for 15 through tonight’s game since being recalled from Fresno.  More importantly, Burriss is a former 1st round draft pick and is 3 years younger than Frandsen.   Burriss’s numbers have dropped, but he is the best middle infielder prospect the Giants have at the major league or AAA level.  I don’t want to see Burriss lose time so that we can prove that Frandsen might be an adequate major league back-up.  Much as I like Frandsen’s story, I just don’t think he has the talent to be more than a back-up at the major league level.  Burriss, on the other hand, could be an important part of the Giants’ future over the next five years.  The Giants should stick with Burriss until further notice.

The Giants just don’t seem to have any idea how to rebuild a ball club.  Instead, they seem stuck on a treadmill that leads only to more losing seasons.