Giants Can't Wait Around to Pull Trigger on Trade for Impact Power Hitter

When Madison Bumgarner landed on the disabled list after a dirt bike misadventure, the San Francisco Giants lost their best pitcher and a pretty darn good power hitter.

The first part sounds important, and it is. The Giants' rotation won't be nearly as formidable without Bumgarner, who's expected to miss two months or more, per ESPN's Buster Olney.

They still have an ace-level arm in Johnny Cueto, however, and a solid supporting cast that includes Matt Moore, Jeff Samardzija and a resurgent Matt Cain.

San Francisco's issue is offense, and the club needs to address it via trade before it's too late.

After a dispiriting 2-1 loss to the arch-rival Los Angeles Dodgers Tuesday night, the Giants are tied for 21st in batting average (.235), 25th in runs scored (72) and 27th in OPS (.648).  

Not surprisingly, they sit at 7-14, dead last in the National League West.

Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images

"Right now, there's nothing clicking, let's be honest," manager Bruce Bochy told reporters recently, per Anthony Castrovince of Sports on Earth.

San Francisco has made some moves, calling up top position-player prospect Christian Arroyo and inserting him at third base.

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The 21-year-old Arroyo has made a few slick plays and collected his first career hit Tuesday against Dodgers demigod Clayton Kershaw. It looks like the kid can play.

That may be enough to give Giants fans hope. The franchise has an impressive track record with homegrown talent, after all. Buster Posey, Brandon Belt, Brandon Crawford and Joe Panik compose nearly half of the current starting lineup and account for much of the club's production. 

That said, the Giants' championship window won't hang open forever. After winning a trio of even-year rings between 2010 and 2014, San Francisco needs to strike now.

Posey is 30 years old. Hunter Pence is 34. Crawford tweaked his groin Tuesday and will miss an undetermined stretch, per Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Cueto will likely opt out after this season, meanwhile, and the once-indestructible Bumgarner has betrayed his mortality. 

The July 31 trade deadline is a lifetime away. By then, San Francisco could be buried by not only the Dodgers (10-11), but the 14-7 Colorado Rockies and 14-8 Arizona Diamondbacks, the surprise leaders out west.

It's a tough time of year to swing a deal, obviously. Everyone is technically a contender, so asking prices for impact players are elevated. The odds of something happening in April or early May are slim.

Still, general manager Bobby Evans should be working the phones and trying to get creative. 

Perhaps the Kansas City Royals, who are mired in last place in the American League Central, would be open to trading center fielder Lorenzo Cain, an impending free agent who's hitting .299 with an impressive .427 on-base percentage.

Then there's Milwaukee Brewers slugger Ryan Braun, who has six home runs and a .970 OPS through 20 games. A veteran left fielder with performance-enhancing drug baggage may feel like deja vu to the Bay Area faithful, but Braun's pop would immediately and measurably improve the Giants' frequently punchless attack.

Dylan Buell/Getty Images

San Francisco is clearly all in on Arroyo, but it has other chips in a low-key yet not barren farm system, including right-hander Tyler Beede and big-swinging Chris Shaw.

Painful as it is, the team needs to dangle those pieces sooner than later and be prepared to mortgage the future for improvement now.

Let's put it this way: After Jarrett Parker went down with a broken clavicle and Chris Marrero fizzled, the Giants are rolling with Eduardo Nunez in left field.

Nunez has notable speed and undeniable offensive upside, but his limited adventures in the outfield have been less than pretty, as McCovey Chronicles' Grant Brisbee outlined.

If you want to skip that link and get straight to the punchline, the title is, "I watched Eduardo Nunez play a game in left field so you don't have to."

This teams has holes. Arroyo brings youth and hope. The even-year juju is sprinkled across the roster. But the Giants need to upgrade their offense, plain and simple, and the moment is now.

Or, failing that, as soon as possible.

All statistics current as of Tuesday and courtesy of Baseball Reference and MLB.com.

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