the brian giles rumor hasn't died; per baseball prospectus, "The latest discussions involve Brian Giles coming to the Cardinals in return for Jason Marquis. That part would be easy enough, so if this deal gets held up, it will be over minor details of money and additional prospects."
i'm still not buying it; too good to be true. san diego is fighting for its playoff life and ranks 14th in the league in runs scored; giles is their best hitter; they've just traded away phil nevin; and, according to the san diego union-tribune (scroll all the way to last graph) are trying to add an outfielder so they can shift klesko to 1st base. and i'm sure san diego gm kevin tower is dying to run the risk of giles, in cardinal red, murdering the pads in the nlds . . . . that would do wonders for tower's job security. the trade makes tons of sense for the cardinals, but i don't see how it helps the pads.
if walt does pull off a trade like this . . . . . well let's just say if anyone can pull off a trade as advantageous as marquis-for-giles, it's jock. i don't doubt that the inquiries have taken place, but i think they're for leverage -- the real (and realistic) target still seems to be lawton, with dave dellucci also quietly looming as a possibility. baseball prospectus again: "It might be a couple weeks since "Shark Week" on cable, but two of the steely-teethed sharks in the baseball world--Walt Jocketty and John Schuerholz--are slowly closing in on deals. Multiple sources say that both teams have waited out the initial "feeding frenzy" and that their GMs will come in at the last minute with `solid deals.'" adding matt lawton is a "solid" deal; adding brian giles is a blockbuster.
giles, lawton, dellucci, adam dunn -- all left-handed hitting corner outfielders. don't tell me larry walker's odds of returning healthy are good . . . .
assuming any outfielder we might acquire will hit left-handed, that would leave so taguchi and abraham nunez as the cardinals' most potent righty bats off the bench for the playoffs. but that might not be the end of the world. the cardinals' potential playoff opponents aren't loaded with good left-handed pitchers. the astros have pettitte, but the rest of their rotation and their pen skews heavily to the right (clemens oswalt lidge); the braves can throw mike hampton (if he can ever stay off the dl) and horatio ramirez; the chisox have mark buehrle and cliff pollitte. but there are no teams out there with a left-left combination like the one that knocked the cards out of the nlcs back in 2000 -- hampton & al leiter. tho if jamie moyer hadn't vetoed a trade to the astros . . .
elsewhere: the giants' fans hate the randy winn trade, and the mariners' fans love it. fallout at McCovey Chronicles (here and here) and at Lookout Landing.
i'm out of pocket today, won't be able to stay abreast. if there's a move (or if there isn't), get the reaction going in the diaries; i'll jump in tonite.
