Giants Trade for Garko, Loses Barnes

As the saying goes, to get talent, you have to give up talent. Ryan Garko is a talented power-hitting 1B who can play the OF in a pinch, and probably could catch in a pinch as well, he played C when he first started professionally but obviously it was decided that he wasn't that good there. Scott Barnes was an 8th round revelation who was having a great season for us in San Jose.

Giants Thoughts

Garko's plus is his power and he's a right-handed bat, but his defense is pretty bad at 1B and probably bad in LF too. He isn't hitting much better than Ishikawa has been since May 10th, who has been much over .800 OPS since then. I see this as a bad trade, because Barnes is a good lefty dominating in Class A, and we didn't get much of an upgrade at 1B plus force a hitter who has been hitting well onto the bench. That's assuming the obvious, that Garko's playing 1B.

He's also putting in time in LF, and that's where the Giants could benefit, because we have so many lefties in the OF, and he could play 1B and LF, giving Ishikawa more time at 1B against LHP still. Garko could be in LF a lot with Rowand banged up and nobody taking LF by the horn.

He's also a tradeable chip that could be moved to another team for someone the Giants like more, combined with other prospects.

Overall, if this is it, it depends on how the Giants use him. If they platoon him with Ishikawa at 1B plus play him in LF against RHP, then I think that's valuable and an improvement over the offense we had before. If it cuts into Ishikawa's time, then it's a poor trade. If it is a springboard to another move that nets a better hitter (like maybe Garko in a package to the Nats for Willingham), then that could be good for us too.

But I'm underwhelmed for now.

ADDENDUM since for some reason I cannot comment:

I also realized that I should look at Barnes and Garko's stats more indepth. This tempers my feelings, though if Garko cuts into Ishikawa's time at 1B beyond a platoon, it's a bad deal.

Garko really mashes against LHP and does OK against RHP. If he plays 1B against LHP and LF when Lewis and Schierholtz don't match up well in Bochy's gut against the RHP, then he'll be well utilized on our team. He has plus home stats so he might decline some with us.

Scott Barnes is doing really well, but there are some caveats. First of all, it's only Advanced A and he wasn't that dominating, though good. Plus, he benefitted from the strikeout factor at home due to the poor hitting background there:

Home: 2.55 W/9, 9.99 K/9
Away: 3.45 W/9, 8.16 K/9

So he's not that dominating away, FIP of 4.22 and that's not even the MLE.

What that means is that while he is good in Advanced A, he wasn't so good that he still needs to develop more to make the majors. Don't mean that he won't just that this is a requirement and pitchers like that peter out in AA or AAA if they are not able to develop that extra pitch. And the Giants typically do not trade prospects unless they are on their Available list (as opposed to their Don't Trade list).

However, he had a slow start to the season and really turned it on in June and July, so perhaps he has already figured it out, but most likely not, as his FIP was still 3.07 in July. As contrast, Pucetas, Alderson, and Bumgarner easily outdid Barnes in San Jose, even his great July.

So getting an average major league hitter for him is good value, to me, since he may never develop enough to pitch in the majors.

The main problem I have with the deal is that it most probably cuts into Ishikawa's playing time, particularly against LHP, where we need to see if he can handle or not, though it won't be the worse thing to have them platoon together the next three years.

In addition, it costs us a tradeable chip that could be used to get a player we really need, like a better hitting 2B or consistent LF, though if Garko is tradeable, then that's not as much of a factor.

I am still underwhelmed, but not by as much as before now. And it still depends on how he is used and his impact on Ishikawa.

But with Jesus Guzman up, it could be that Garko is strictly a LF for now, plus occassional 1B. And Guzman had played 2B before (not well, but still) so he could be utilized there as well, so that is the mix we are facing in playing time.