Aiming at October: MLB Second Half Bullet Points

We’ll start with some distressing news about the San Francisco Giants (surprise). After that, (and brace yourselves for this) we’ll find some positive things to say about the Giants.

My unique team of researchers, writers, and recovering Home Run Derby addicts are scuttling around right now, searching for some happy Giants news to insert into this post before I finish (which should be in about six minutes).

Most of my staff are members of the screw-top bottle community, and every week they’re obligated to attend a number of mandatory law enforcement-related appointments. By the way, when you see them along I-680 tidying up the median strip, please give them a warm honk.

• Let’s play “What if every NL West team finished the season playing .500 ball?”
  It’s after the All-Star break, so we’re entitled to go there.

As of July 16^th:
— Los Angeles Dodgers @.500 = 35-34, and would finish with a 99-63 record.
— Arizona @.500 = 35-35, would finish 88-74.
— Colorado @.500 = 34-34, would finish 87-75.
— San Diego @.500 = 36-35, would finish 76-86.
— San Francisco @.500 = 35-34, and they would finish with a 70-92 record.

Keep in mind that the Giants haven’t even been playing .400 baseball the first 93 games of 2017. If they ended the season at their current .376 win rate they would have a 61-101 record.

• Hey, what about the 2017 amateur player draft? How did the Giants organization do?

Like almost all of their drafts the past eight years, not particularly impressive. Bleacher Report rated the Giants overall draft results with a “C” grade, noting “Lots of doubts with each [Giants] selection, not a lot of great picks… .”

With the 19^th overall pick in round 1, the Giants first took Heliot Ramos, a 17-year-old high school outfielder from Puerto Rico. In their pre-draft rankings, Baseball America had Ramos at #30, and MLB.com had him at #40. Oops.

This is the first high school outfielder the Giants drafted with their first pick since they picked up Adam Hyzdu in 1990. You remember Hyzdu, right?

• There is an opportunity for the Giants as the 2017 non-waiver trade deadline rapidly approaches.

Since the only thing of real value the Giants have going into the trade market is cold, hard cash there is one potential team that appears to be an anxious seller specifically looking for cash.

That perfect match-up partner is the Miami Marlins.

The Marlins franchise is on the selling block and they will have new ownership in the next several months. Their plan at the trade deadline is to dump as much salary as possible to make the Marlins more attractive (i.e., have less built-in debt for potential buyers).

So Miami is, as they say, a desperately motivated seller.

Everyone on the roster is up for grabs, except slugger Giancarlo Stanton and his 13-year, $325 million contract, who is likely seen by potential buyers as one of the Marlins most attractive assets.

Players on the trading dock include 25-year-old center fielder Christian Yelich, who is signed through 2022 and is on the verge of achieving superstar status. Also in that same mold is 26-year old homerun-hitting left fielder Marcell Ozuna, who makes $3.5 million and won’t be a free agent until 2020.

No doubt the Marlins would rather move their older veterans, like 1B Justin Bour, 3B Martin Prado, or 2B Dee Gordon, but over the next two weeks the market will tell the tale.

Even though Miami would likely want some high-end prospects in any deal, this could be the Giants’ best chance to have money substitute for the quality prospects they can’t provide in a trade.

Fingers crossed and let’s hope the Giants massive money machine in the basement of AT&T Park at the corner of King Street and 2^nd Street is running at full speed, and open for business at the trade deadline and beyond.