Hot Stove League: Giants Interested in Rays' Jason Bartlett

According to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe, the San Francisco Giants as well as the Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles are interested in trading for shortstop Jason Bartlett.  According to Cafardo, the Tampa Bay Rays are looking for bullpen help and with Reid Brignac ready to take over at shortstop Bartlett has become expendable.

The Giants are a good fit to make a deal with the Rays as they have a lot of good young reliever talent that they could send to the Rays for Bartlett.  Bartlett would give the Giants a legit shortstop to replace Edgar Renteria as it is unlikely that the Giants will want to bring him back.  Jason Bartlett, who is coming off his worst year as a major leaguer both defensively and offensively, is a natural shortstop and has at least one more year of arbitration left.

This move would also leave the Giants with a backup plan if Juan Uribe leaves to another team which is looking like a very good possibility.  There has been a lot of interest in Uribe because of his position flexibility and his offensive power.  The Giants aren't likely to match a three-year deal for Uribe because they don't want to block their young prospects like Brandon Crawford, Ehire Adrianza, or Conor Gillaspie.  If the Giants are able to bring back Uribe then they could have him play third baseman, which is a better position for him defensively anyway.  This would also allow the Giants to finally move Pablo Sandoval to first base where he belongs, assuming the 2009 Sandoval shows up to training camp.

St. Louis Cardinals Are Interested in Juan Uribe

According to Buster Olney of ESPN, the St. Louis Cardinals are said to be "aggressive" in their pursuit of Juan Uribe.  Uribe who can play second base, shortstop, and third base would be an upgrade over what the Cardinals have currently plus he has an above-average bat for the position.

Uribe has played for the Giants for the past two years on one-year deals.  He was originally signed in 2009 to a minor-league deal and ended up making the team and providing a spark towards the end of the 2009 season.  In this past offseason he was looking for a long-term deal but after their was no interest he resigned with the Giants on another one-year deal.  This offseason, that is likely to not happen again as there is interest around the league.

The Giants are said to be interested in bringing him back but the question is on what terms.  The Giants have a lot of young prospects in their farm system and they want to avoid blocking them with aging and overpaid veterans.  Unless they can get Uribe for a two-year deal, similar to Mark DeRosa's, then I would expect them to let him sign elsewhere.

Al Harris is Available, But Not an True Option for the 49ers

There was a rumor (or a blogger suggestion) going around last week that cornerback Al Harris was going to be cut by the Green Bay Packers and the 49ers should try to sign him.  The rumor may now become a reality.  According to the National Football Post, Harris' agent is in negotiations with multiple teams. 

What does this mean?

It means that if there is truly multiple teams then he will not be signing with the 49ers.  There is no way if there is more than the 49ers interested that he will be signing with them. 

Although other teams may have a worse record there is not another worse team in the NFL than the 49ers unless we are talking about the Dallas Cowboys.  Either way, I just don't see why the 49ers would sign him and why he would accept.

Mike Singletary on the hot seat

The San Francisco 49ers were the favorite to win the NFC West by almost all the talking heads. Most believed that all the 49ers had to do was show up to the games and they could go 8-8 and get into the playoffs for the first time since Steve Mariucci was the head coach.

Well, they showed up but they are not on track to go 8-8. They are starting to look like they are on track to go 0-16.

After three weeks of losing and offensive ineptitude, Mike Singletary fired offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye and replaced him with quarterbacks coach Mike Johnson. Singletary has also had three players walk away from the team, Kentwan Balmer, Glen Coffee, and veteran safety Michael Lewis. The last one is the most concerning.

With a 0-4 start and players like Michael Lewis walking away from the team, Mike Singletary now finds himself on the hot seat. According to reports, if the “49ers don’t win one of the next two to three games” then Singletary will likely be fired. The 49ers next two games are at home against the Eagles and Raiders.

While the 49ers are losing games that should be won, their division foes (Seattle, Arizona, St. Louis) are winning games they should be losing. The 49ers currently stand two games behind the division lead. In fact, they are the only team in the division without a 2-2 record.

With only two games back of the division lead, the 49ers still have the opportunity to win the division. But any more losses to teams that they should beat and they will likely not be looking forward to the playoffs but more toward their top pick in the NFL draft.

Takeo Spikes says he is still the starter

On Monday, Adam Schefter reported that the San Francisco 49ers were going to bench both veteran defensive starters Takeo Spikes and Michael Lewis.

In Monday's press conference, Mike Singletary denied that report and said he was not sure where that came from.  Then today on Chronicle Live, linebacker Takeo Spikes denied that report.

"I saw that on TV as well, and it was a shocker, a big surprise to me.  "I talked to our head coach, and he immediately shot that down with me by saying, 'I expect you to be our starter this weekend.'

Personally, I was a bit surprised by the rumor that Spikes was going to be benched but not Michael Lewis.  Lewis has started to show his age and his lack of speed hurt the 49ers in the Chiefs game.

I would not be surprised to see Reggie Smith replace Lewis in the starting lineup.  I also suspect that although Spikes will still be the starter, we may start seeing more of NaVorro Bowman especially against teams with more speed.

Rumors: Giants looking at Cody Ross and Brad Hawpe

The front office of the Giants did absolutely nothing inspiring before the July 31^st trade deadline except pick up two average relievers.  Their only success this year has seemed to come from picking up players that are were cut and placed on waivers. 

The first and foremost example of course is Pat Burrell. 

Well that trend is seemingly continuing.  They picked up Jose Guillen after he was cut by the Royals for some cash and a player to be named later, which by all signs appears to be a very low level prospect.  They also acquired Mike Fontenot from the Cubs after he cleared waivers for Evan Crawford. 

Well it does not appear that Sabean and the front office is done with the waiver wire just yet. 

Whether the motive was to block the Padres, or actually acquire the player, the Giants were awarded the waiver claim on Cody Ross, the center fielder for the Marlins.  With such a crowded outfield and another two weeks before rosters expand it is unlikely that they want to actually trade for him.  All signs show that this was a move to block the Padres from acquiring him since they are in desperate need for some outfield help after Tony Gwynn Jr. broke his hand.

Giants close to getting Jose Guillen

According to ESPN, the Giants are close to acquiring Kansas City Royals’ outfielder Jose Guillen. There is no word who the Giants are giving up in exchange but it is expected that the Royals will be taking on some of the salary. If the trade gets finalized today, Guillen will be in uniform tonight for the Giants.

This is a curious move by Brian Sabean because they already have a group of outfielders fighting for three spots.


The only way this move makes sense is if the Giants plan on putting Aubrey Huff back at first. That could move Ishikawa back to the bench where he was very successful as a pinch-hitter off the bench.

Guillen’s numbers are not overly impressive this year but neither was Pat Burrell and as most Giants’ fans will tell you that move was definitely worth it.

If nothing else, Guillen gives the Giants a right-handed bat with pop off the bench which they will need for their playoff run.

Now if we can get Panda back to normal then that would be the trade the Giants needed to make.

Pablo Sandoval on the trade block or not

Giants game just finished up with a walk-off hit by “the great one”, Andres Torres.  But hard to get excited when the bullpen blew a huge lead.

I did not watch the game so I do not have much to comment on but I do know that Sanchez imploded again.  Remind me why we are so against trading him….

Let’s move on to more interesting news items.

Apparently, the Giants are looking to reacquire former first-round pick David Aardsma.  Not sure why Sabean would go after this guy because his stats are very unimpressive.  In fact they are so unimpressive that this could only be a fat joke by the Mariners.  The dude is sporting a 0-6 record with a 4.73 ERA.

I have not been able to find out what the Giants offered for him but according to MLBTR, the Mariners counter-offered with a trade of Jose Lopez & David Aardsma for Pablo Sandoval.

Trade Deadline approaching

The trade market is heating up as Thursday’s trade deadline approaches.  The big names among position players appear to be Adam Dunn, Jayson Werth, Prince Fielder, and Corey Hart.  The likelihood that Fielder gets traded is very low since the Brewers’ asking price is very high and he is a Scott Boras client.  The rumors are that he will be looking to test free agency and will want a contract that would exceed that of Ryan Howard.  So in essence, the team who trades for him will be renting him for a year and half and has little hopes of extending him beyond that point.

Now that Dan Haren has been traded to the Angels the only starting pitcher left available appears to be Roy Oswalt who holds a no trade clause.  He has a rather large contract of which the Astros have said they will not help cover.  This would reduce the value that the Astros can get in return and limit the possibilities of him getting traded.

Locally, the Giants are in every conversation whether they know it or not.  Anytime a hitter is brought up so is the Giants.  The problem, if it is a problem, is that the Giants and more specifically Sabean are unwilling to part with any of their starting pitching which would likely be non-starter in any trade conversations.  Sabean also has said that he is unwilling to trade for a player that would become a free agent at seasons end.