Matsui a Giant Again?

Not the Yomiuri Giants where Hideki Matsui began his career in Japan, but it was the San Francisco Giants that came calling for Hideki Matsui’s services. Despite the fact that the move makes almost no sense for the Giants, the rumors spread that late in the winter meetings the Giants and Yankees did discuss a Matsui to the Giants deal. Not much was said about what the Yankees would have received back but it’s safe to say that unless Brian Sabean, the Giants GM, is the worst GM in baseball (he’s probably up there actually) then it wouldn’t have been Tim Lincecum or Matt Cain. The Giants have been trying to pawn one of them off for an outfielder (Alex Rios of the Blue Jays mostly) but if they were smart then they would need more then Matsui to pry away one of their young aces. A package of Noah Lowry and one of the Giants young bullpen arms like Brian Wilson, Brad Hennessy, or Jonathan Sanchez surely would have been to the Yankees liking but would not make much sense for the Giants. If the Giants were a near contender that was only a piece away from actually contending then it would make sense to add Matsui to try to put them over the top, but nobody is going to confuse this Giants team with a contender. The Giants have an excellent nucleus of young pitchers, both in the rotation and the bullpen, but they have very little in the terms of young hitters. That’s why it makes some sense for them to trade one of their young pitchers for a young star like Alex Rios, but not for a 34 year old outfielder. The Giants thinking may have been around the marketing from the Japanese market by acquiring Matsui, but supposedly they have plenty of money to put a contender on the field they just do not manage the money wisely. The Yankees do seem pretty willing to deal an outfielder, whether it be Matsui, Damon, or Melky, to free up the log jam and perhaps to add another useful part, but it does not appear as if they will do so in this trade. The trade seemed to have been left for dead after the winter meetings and is unlikely to be resurrected, but the off season always seems to have a way of throwing these unexpected trades into the limelight, even if they never are completed.