Giants Obtain Garko

After four consecutive losing seasons for the Giants, I’m not a big fan of GM Brian Sabean.  However, I have to admit I like this deal for the Giants.

Ryan Garko is no great shakes, but at age 28, he’s still in his prime.  He gives the Giants something the team desperately needs: a right-handed hitter who can play 1B and the corner outfield positions (Garko has played 12 games in the outfield this year) and hit with some power.  More importantly, he only cost the Giants one prospect.

Those who have read my posts on the Giants minor leaguers know that I like Scott Barnes, the pitcher the Giants just sent to the Tribe.  At this moment I would rank him as the Giants’ third best pitching prospect behind only Madison Bumgarner and Tim Alderson, because of his age (21) and his performance at A+ San Jose this year (Barnes is 12-3 with a 2.85 ERA in a hitters’ league, with 82 hits allowed, 29 walks, and 99 Ks in 98 IP).  In fact, given his college pitching ratios at St. John’s, it’s hard to understand how he fell to the Giants all the way down to the 8th round in the 2007 Draft.

However, Barnes appears to be the only player the Indians received.  There’s been some report of a player to be named later, but other reports saying, no, it’s just Garko for Barnes straight up.  Losing Barnes hurts, but the Giants are trading from a position of strength.  Aside from Bumgarner and Alderson, they still have pitchers Kevin Pucetas at AAA Fresno, Ben Snyder at AA Connecticut, and Clayton Tanner at A+ San Jose.

Also, the thing about a pitcher at the A+ level is that he’s still got a long way to go before he reaches the major leagues.  There’s a big jump in talent between A+ and AA, and plenty of great looking pitchers in A+ blow out their arms long before they reach the majors.

In looking at Garko’s salary, he just missed being a super-2, and thus eligible for arbitration, this past off-season.  He’s only making $446,100 this year, which is a bargain.  Given that he really doesn’t hit enough for a 1Bman (career .805 OPS) and the Indians are rebuilding and looking to cut salary, it’s possible that the Indians would have non-tendered him rather than let him get a huge raise in arbitration this coming off-season.  This may have been the reason why the Giants were able to get him for a single player still in A+ ball.

Still, Garko is better than what the Giants have now, and he’s certainly got incentive to play well the rest of the season as he goes into his first arbitration year.  Meanwhile, the Indians get to call up 25 year old Andy Marte, whose .963 OPS currently leads the AAA International League by 44 points.  In short, it looks like a good move for both clubs.

One final note: the Giants sent down John Bowker and Matt Downs today and called up Jesus Guzman and Eugenio Velez.   Yeah, Bowker was hitting a feeble .156, but he only got 32 ABs.  What does that prove?

Guzman was hitting .336 with a .916 at Fresno, so he arguably deserved another look.  Velez was hitting .297 with a .791 OPS at Fresno, very similar to what Frandsen and Downs have done there.  I doubt Velez will play any better than Frandsen or Downs did in San Francisco.  It will likely be a short stay for Guzman, as the Giants now need to open up a roster space for Garko.