10:34pm: Alfonso Soriano has told the Cubs he won't accept a trade to San Francisco, Jim Bowden of ESPN.com and MLB Network Radio tweets.
8:31pm: There's some juice to the trade talks and a deal "could happen," Heyman tweets. The Giants remain determined to acquire a hitter.
2:43pm: There is no Pence deal in place or close between the Giants and Phillies, writes Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle.
12:09pm: The Giants are talking to the Phillies about Pence, confirms Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. However, ESPN's Jayson Stark says the Giants "appear to have too many payroll issues and too few chips to make that deal work right now." Stark mentions the Justin Morneau idea for San Francisco, which Heyman alluded to earlier today. Morneau, however, will make more money than Pence through next year.
10:36am: "It would be a shocker" if the Giants don't acquire an outfielder before the trade deadline, writes ESPN's Buster Olney. Jon Heyman of CBS Sports agrees that the Giants are seeking an outfielder. The Giants have been linked to the Phillies' Hunter Pence and Shane Victorino, but it appears no deal is in place currently.
Scott Hairston for Gary Brown. Get it done, Sandy.
(Yes, I’m kidding. Even if Brian Sabean is on the other side.)
Although i admit the Giants need a bat,I’m really concerned at what sabean is going to give up. The farm system isn’t as strong as past years.
Phillies need a catcher and we’re loaded with catching prospects. We would be trading from a surplus if we got Pence.
That’s true. I wouldn’t cringe too much if Joseph or susac were included. I’m nervous about them giving up brown, Blackburn, etc.
I’d give up Brown to get Pence if we can resign him. Cabrera and Pence would be a great tandem in the outfield and in the lineup next to Posey and Sandoval
One reason I am afraid of this proposal it that they both do not take walks hardly ever and hack at everything imaginable. The more I think about it the more I think Brown won’t go because the Giants have been looking for a lead off man since like forever. If Brown increases his walks and cuts down his CSs’ he will be a force to be reckon with for a long time.
Pagan would for sure go to the lead off spot if this went through.
the Phils do not need a catcher… Ruiz has a 5 mil option for next year which is a no brainer and Valle should be just about ready by 2014
I certainly hope the Phils don’t get a AA catcher prospect in return. Tommy Joseph is basically at the same level as Sebastian Valle, who the Phillies also have at AA right now. Joseph is batting .260 with 8 HRs and a .705 OPS, while Valle is batting .261 with 13 HRs and a .719 OPS. The only difference I see is Joseph is a year younger and has less SO. If Joseph is in the deal, I hope the Phils are planning to flip him over into another deal to get help in a position they really need like CF or 3B. Very little organizational depth at those two spots and Polanco and Victorino won’t be around long.
Measuring value base purely on the stat sheet is difficult. Scouts see things that don’t show up in OPS and SLG. I don’t know much about Valle and the buzz around Joseph has been huge. Maybe the Phllies see something they like in one of our young catchers. Susac, Joseph and Sanchez are all solid prospects but who knows what they value.
True, but if you look at Jonathan Mayo’s rankings on C prospects, for instance, he has Valle at #7 and Joseph at #10. Valle is kind of big deal too and part of the reason they were comfortable trading d’Arnaud (#1 on that same list) in the deal for Halladay. The main point is that trading for a C doesn’t address their needs unless all they are trying to do is dump payroll for whatever they can get of value in return. Judging by the comments of other executives about RAJ’s asking prices, I don’t think that is the case.
Did you just make that up?
It’s MLB Trade Rumors, everything is coming from conjecture.
The Phillies need a 3b, CF, and Bulllpen relief. Where did you see that they need a catcher especially with Chooch tearing it up this year. You probably would have to give up Brown for Pence since that’s one of the Phillies holes.
Brown is not a for sure thing like Pence. I hope the Giants get Pence. Brandon Belt was a sure thing in my eyes and he has been terrible in the bigs. Pence has made every team better that he has been on. The Giants have been missing a guy like that. Melky has been getting a little full of himself in SF lately, Pence, Theriot and Scutaro would change that. IMO
Rajai Davis!
Bryan LaHair for Tommy Joseph
.204/.271/.296/.567 OPS
This is LaHair’s line since May 16. Joseph is the #2 prospect in the SF system. I don’t see this happening…
I like how you conveniently choose May 16…considering LaHair went 5-8 with 2 HRs the previous two games to that game. But I do agree he has struggled for the last month and a half. But he is still a legitimate LH power threat with a solid OBP and OPS over .800 who is under cheap control for several years. I don’t think he would net a top prospect, but the return will have to be very enticing for Theo to just give him up.
The Giants will pursue a RH or switch-hitting outfielder before they even consider a LH hitter.
There is a reason why he didn’t become a major league regular until age 29. It appears as if the league has exposed his weaknesses at the plate given his recent struggles. As for my sample size, of course I didn’t include those previous two days, as they don’t help in accurately portraying how horrific LaHair has been over the past 2.5 months (not 1.5, as you said). But, to appease you, if you include those two days, his OPS jumps up during that time period to a robust .637. Those 2.5 months are the vast majority of the season to date. Joseph, in my opinion, is far too much to give up for 1.5 month wonder who doesn’t appear to be able to make the adjustments necessary at the major league level.
Not to mention that he is strictly a platoon hitter. You don’t trade a highly regarded prospect for a guy who bats .068 vs. LH pitching.
Oh I wasn’t saying that he should be traded for Joseph or any top prospect for that matter. But I do think Lahair has some real value, especially if he can adjust like pitchers have adjusted to him. I just thought you were undervaluing based on his current slump.
As far as being a platoon player, he is a LHB. And since 70% of major league pitchers are RHP, he will still see plenty of AB’s.
I know this is off-topic but today and tomorrow will be so much fun! I finally got two days off from work and plan on hitting the refresh button all day long on my laptop, my favorite time of the year!
Good man
Yup. Aside from the holiday season, this is right up there.
Cheers to you, bigpat. Best of luck to your buccos in acquiring a piece or two tomorrow for their run towards the post season. PA native who would love to see them represent PA in the absence of the Phils.
Thanks! I don’t want them to do something too drastic but I’m hoping they bring in a good bat to help things out because the Reds are pretty much unstoppable right now.
Cody Ross… but Josh Beckett has to be on the same flight.
Looks like the Dodgers and the Giants are bidding on some of the same players. Now that could be interesting!
Alfonso SorryOhNo.
Local SF sports tv KPIX went on air last night saying Giants had a deal in place for Hunter Pence pending league approval. Nobody else can verify however. Bobby Evans said it’s not true.
Many Philly sources are saying the exact same thing. I posted a link to one of them 30 minutes ago but it was removed from a moderator.
The sportscaster is Dennis O’Donnell. He posted a story 3 days ago, but about 10 min later it was removed. lol
BJ Upton and Kyle Farnsworth for Brandon Belt
You’re killin me….
Hearing Gary Brown for Victorino is a done deal.
If the giants make this trade, i swear my head will explode.
no way the giants would trade their best prospect for a rental player again, plus Victorino is having a down year.
Phils could use Gary Brown much more than Joseph. We’ll even throw in Tyson Gillies so you have a replacement CF prospect. =) What a relief it would be to get rid of that joker.
You wish, Giants wouldn’t trade Brown for a rental
I was hoping for at least 30 down arrows from Giants fans with that post. Very disappointing.
It was an odd comment from Sabean to Bowden on mlb radio yesterday that the needed “bat in RF doesn’t exist.” Especially with Pence on the market that’s clearly not true. Now perhaps what he meant was there’s no RFer we’ll give up Gary Brown for- that seems the more likely scenario. Victorino is a rental and Sabean won’t lose his job over giving up a prospect for him like he did last year. Seems the more likely scenario would be to target the Cubs Johnson or Baker who are both low $ guys.
Vernon Wells anyone?
Nice try, Angels fan. Nobody’s gonna take him.
Sure! For Crawford and Beckett that is.
Nope, not unless you include Lackey.
Broxton and Frenchy! You can have em, we got better guys anyways.
I think Pence would REALLY help the Giants.
Wouldn’t he REALLY help a lot of teams?
yes, he would. I meant more on the lines of “he is the type of player that the giants would really benefit from acquiring”
Just the thought of Pence playing RF in that ballpark makes me feel giddy.
Likely because I’m not a Giants fan.
why sign hamels if they were going to unload everyone?
Because Hamels is in his prime and he’s locked up until 2018. Everyone else they are getting rid of won’t help long term.
but in trading pieces now, you are just going to end up winning when hamels is out of his prime so
Well they are still a big market team and also have that massive TV deal in a couple years so they are still able to go and sign who ever they want. I think Amaro finally realized it’s not happening this year and is trying his best to refill their farm as best as he can.
yah thats fine with victorino, but pence is not an upcoming fa so, you are also getting worse for next year as well
I was just saying that they can trade these guys, get prospects, and sign FAs in the off season unless they get some MLB ready prospects from these deals. Like for CF, they could try and sign Bourn, who would be a better fit then Victorino, and call up Dom Brown who hopefully has matured and play to the level he is capable of.
Not so. It depends on what they get in return. They need someone at 3B long term since Polanco can’t stay healthy and should be gone after next year (if I’m remembering correctly) anyway. The Phils probably can’t resign Victorino (who will be a FA at the end of this year), because he will cost too much. That means they need a CF too and they might as well get prospects or at least cash relief to get what they need through FA since this year is over. Getting rid of Pence makes sense if you can fill a whole elsewhere. With a better season from their starting pitching, there is no reason to think they can’t contend next year. However, with their aging lineup, they will be completely irrelevant by 2014 if they don’t start filling in some of these holes with younger players.
Polanco has a mutual option for next year that will most certainly be declined (1 mil buyout)
I don’t think the Phillies could get much for Victorino he is only a 3 month rental. If they trade Pence I hope its for a solid return. If not we should just keep him till next year.
Yeah, in Vic’s case (unfortunately, because he is one of my favorite players) it’s best just to get something in return since he is gone at the end of the season anyway. However, a Pence trade should fill a position of need within a 2yr timeframe (hopefully CF or 3B).
I think the Giant might end up trading Gary Brown for Pence. It’s like Zach Wheeler all over again.
So last night this was a done deal for the Giants. Then it was talks… Now… Not even close.. Come on!!! If we stand pat on our hitters our chances are looking slim vs. the Dodgers unless Kemp gets injured.
Ummmm totally different. Pence has another full year left after this year. He isnt a 2 month rental. Plus anyone who thinks gary brown will be enough for pence is out of their mind. Wheeler was a bettr prospect and that was for a 2 month rental. Just cause gary brown is the giants top prospect doesnt mean he is enough. Giants farm isnt that great. It will take another one of the giants top prospects to get it done plus maybe another throw in …
Schierholtz and Joseph for Pence. Get it done. That sounds like a better deal for the Phils, to be honest. And if anyone thinks Sabean is going to part with Brown or Panik, you’re crazy. And if he does, Sabean’s crazy.
Amaro would get run out of town if he made that deal…
Cause he got such a great return when he dealt Lee?
Hey now…Gillies and Aumont are future stars!!!
Wait, no they both suck and so does JC Ramirez. I’d say it was the worst trade he’s ever made but he more than outdid himself with the Pence trade.
i completely agree. no way panik or brown is gone. also heard posibilites of blanco and belt in some situations.
Why the hell would the Phillies want Schierholtz, a guy who cant even break in as a starter on the Giants?
And Joseph? He’s not even a top prospect.
Today isn’t fun yet because no Trades have happened nobody wants to give up Prospects I mean Dodgers and Rangers and Teams like Giants need Owners approval.
Any deal for Pence would have to include both CF Gary Brown and 3B Conor Gillaspie as a starting point. Probably a major league or MLB ready reliever as well.
Starting point?? more than Gary Brown? No thanks!
gary brown is an untouchable and so is probably joe panik
Good luck with that…no way in hell they get that much for Hunter Pence.
Soriano why not? I don’t want you on my team any more.
Soriano stop being a baby get out!!!! Its BJack time!!
But for real now soriano doesnt wanna go there because he wont hit another home run in that park
Thank You Alfonso!! Love Giants fans!
goodbye fonzi! i pray hes gone by tomorrow
Didn’t want Soriano anyways, doing Giants fans a favor. Taking any ideas out of Sabeans head.
I think that Alfonso Soriano is a head case and We don’t need his attitude in The SF Giants clubhouse. I think that a deal for Hunter pence is close to get done, I don’t believe that The Phillies want to keep him in 2013. Pence and Juan Pierre would be a great addition to The Giants. Juan Pierre is a good lead-off guy and he puts pressure on the other team’s defense.
I heard from a credible source that The SF Giants are going to get Pitcher Brandon League from The Seattle Mariners. The Giants are looking also at Kansas City Royals Closer Jonathan Broxton..
Credit your source. Ned Colletti acquired League. Oh, wait….
RISP/2 outs- .191BA- 2nd worse in the league……..Bases Loaded- .193BA- 3rd worse in the league…..RISP- .231BA- 3rd worse in the league……Any questions on what we need to compete for a playoff spot?