When the Giants Come to Town, It's Bye-Bye Baby

03.18.2008
Better Than Jesse

PM UPDATE: Chris Haft of sfgiants.com predicts the Giants break north with Wilson, Walker, Hennessey, Chulk, Kline, Taschner and Valdez in the bullpen and try to sneak Erick Threets through waivers. Bad idea. Taschner has an option. Why not use it and give Threets a couple more months to show he belongs in the bigs? Threets could be a dominant reliever; Taschner’s ceiling is much lower.  

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Phillies backup corner infielder Wes Helms is on the block, according to his team’s local news outlet. (Hat tip to Elbo for the link.) Helms for Steve Kline? That’s what the reporter suggests.

Probably pure speculation, but it sounds OK only if the Giants can’t get an interesting prospect for Kline. Better than releasing him outright, and at least the team would clear a space for one of their younger bullpen arms (see yesterday’s post for more details) plus get a cheap bench guy who the past three years has hit lefties at a decent clip (.306 /.379/.482).

Cheap enough — $2.15 million in ‘08 with a $750,000 buyout on his ‘09 option — that an outright release wouldn’t hurt much if/when the Giants found a better solution. (Net out Kline’s $1.75 M salary, and the deal’s almost a wash.)

Sure, I’d love a better, younger, longer-term solution at third base immediately. I’d even love to see Kevin Frandsen get the bulk of the starts there, if nothing else than to get his bat in the lineup every day. But the Giants are fixed on keeping Frandsen in as much limbo as possible.

And it seems more and more likely the Giants won’t even give Dan Ortmeier the chance to flame out. Quoth the Sabes in today’s Chronnie: "We didn't guarantee he's going to be on the team or guarantee he's going to be the everyday first baseman as much as he was given a chance to get a lion's share of the playing time."

So if Ortmeier flames out and Aurilia re-sprains his veteran savvy and Lance Niekro doesn’t pop out of McCovey Cove togged up in orange-and-black scuba gear, then hell, why not Wes Helms?

Your 2008 San Francisco Giants: Why Not Wes Helms!

If Wes Helms, Joe Crede and Brandon Inge all walked into Brian Sabean’s bar, and one of them had a talking frog on his shoulder, what would the frog say to Sabean? Discuss.



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[March 18, 2008 2:46 PM]  |  link  |  reply
Elbo said

That depends which one of Wes Helms' shoulders the frog is sitting on. Because, you know, left and right is kind of a big deal with him.

[March 18, 2008 3:10 PM]  |  link  |  reply
ELM said

Over his career those splits even out a bit, but he's still 100 pts higher in OPS against lefties.

[March 18, 2008 4:13 PM]  |  link  |  reply
MrLomez said

If the Giants aren't gonna even try for a starting 3B, why not just go with a Velez, Frandsen, Aurilia platoon? Why add $3.75mil to the payroll?

[March 18, 2008 4:21 PM]  |  link  |  reply
Idaho Giant said

The big advantage would be in being able to move Klein for something more substantive than pond scum. This would let the G's keep Threets, Valdez etc. on the roster and not play Russian roulette with options and waivers. Plus, you have to know that most if not all of the G's savvy infield veterans are going to spend significant time on the DL. Those vets are the only bats in the lineup...we'll need SOMEONE who can hit consistently at the major league level. Why the hell not Helms?

[March 18, 2008 4:40 PM]  |  link  |  reply
MrLomez said

If you add Helms then the G's still have an "options/waivers roulette" scenario, just with the offense. Lewis, Orty, and Davis have no options. So just release Ortmeier? Not that releasing Ortmeier is a bad thing, but I just don't understand why you'd give AB's to a guy like Wes Helms, when those AB's could go to any combination of younger guys.

Strictly as a fan, would it bring you any modicum of enjoyment to watch Wes Helms play for the Giants?

[March 18, 2008 5:01 PM]  |  link  |  reply
Idaho Giant said

Watching Wes Helms specifically would not give me much enjoyment. Having Molina not be the only decent hitter on the team, and being able to win a few more games would be enjoyable. I don't care if it's Helms, or Jack Wilson or Joe Crede or anyone with a Major League track record as a hitter. It frees up an extra roster spot to protect some pitching. Not to be a total downer, but I don't buy the rumors of a one year re-building project. I think the G's will be great with Cain/Lincecum/Valdez et al. Just not for the next FEW years....Go '10 Giants!

[March 18, 2008 5:21 PM]  |  link  |  reply
ELM said

I'll clarify my own post. I'd only take Helms for Kline if the Giants were determined to lose Kline and Helms was the best they could get in return. Kline for a promising young hitter in the high minors? I might take that instead.

And I forgot to add my other condition, the same that applies to a trade for Crede: Only if the Giants can also lose Rich Aurilia's salary.

But the bigger point that gets lost: it all amounts to shuffling deck chairs on the Giant Titanic.

[March 18, 2008 5:35 PM]  |  link  |  reply
Idaho Giant said

And to clarify my own position; I am not for bringing in vets over kids as a rule. I think that we need to conserve as much pitching as possible (the fact that we had Nathan and Liriano still makes me vomit a little) and moving Klein, who has no future with the club (you know the good future club of my dreams), would help accomplish that. Even once the G's rebuild, it won't be all homegrown kids, no team is. There will need to be some serviceable vets to fill holes etc. We know what we will get from the vets we have and hopefully they will all be gone sooner rather than later (love ya' Rich, glad you came back, but enoughs enough), but we will still need some "players" to carry over to the next good team.

[March 19, 2008 9:22 AM]  |  link  |  reply
Lyle said

The frog would say "Guys, let's leave this bar right now; it smells like rancid warrior spirit in here."

[March 21, 2008 1:01 PM]  |  link  |  reply
the gene hackman said

first, Sabean says "Hey, where did you find that?"

And then the frog says, "the Gamer ClearingHouse, they're practically givin' em away."

Not sure this joke really works with multiple dudes, Lefty.