When the Pirates sent Freddy Sanchez to the Giants today in exchange for Tim Alderson, they acquired a polished 6’ 6” right-hander who came into the season rated by Kevin Goldstein as a Four-Star prospect. Taken 22nd-overall in the 2007 draft, the 20-year-old Alderson has gone 6-1, 3.47 in 13 starts with the Double-A Connecticut Defenders since being promoted from high-A in early May. Alderson talked about his game earlier this season.
On his pitching approach: “I like to attack hitters and go at them right away and not nibble at the corners. I like to keep the ball down and let my defense work. I like to establish my fastball early in the game and try to save some other pitches for later on — the second and third time through the order. You also don’t want to try to do too much out there. You need to know your own game rather than trying to go off of someone else’s. You have to understand your body and how it works, and go out there and just pitch your own game.”
On if he views himself as a command guy: “My fastball velocity isn’t as good as that of some of the other guys on our staff, but while I like to get ahead on my curveball and work off of that, I’ll still use my fastball a lot. Still, my curveball is probably my out pitch. We have some guys here who can strike people out, but they want us to work on just getting ground balls and staying in the game longer. If you’re out there for awhile as a starter, and you’re starting to get tired, don’t try to do too much. Just throw what you have left and don’t try to overdo everything. You want to try to stay in control.”
On his changeup: “I’m definitely working on it this year. I started throwing it a lot last year and I’m trying to keep throwing it a lot. It’s a circle-change right now and I’m mostly trying to keep the arm speed good so that I can make it look like a fastball as much as possible. It’s really how it feels on a certain day. But it’s still kind of a work in progress. If a certain grip is working in the bullpen, before the game, then we’ll go with that pretty much.”
On pitch selection: “You’re going to feel different each time you go out there, so you have to understand what’s working. If you’re having success with your fastball, you have to keep throwing it until they prove that they’re on it. That’s when you have to start mixing up your game. But if your fastball is going good, I don’t see a reason to get away from it.”
On working with his catcher: “I like to trust my catcher, but I also have confidence in what I know how to throw. We work together and go over the lineup before we go out there, so it isn’t very often that we’re on different pages.”
On dealing with the media: “It’s been fun. It’s something that you want, I guess. You don’t want to be ignored, so it’s just fun and cool to be out there.”
I'm a Giants fan. I don't mind getting Freddy Sanchez, but I hate how badly we overpaid for him. Hopefully, Sabean isn't re-signed at the end of the year. Get someone young, numerical, and comitted to building a championship franchise.
I'm convinced that this is Sabean trying to make a playoff run to save his job.
Anymore I just feel sorry for Brian Sabean. I mean, the man is completely unarmed mentally doing battle in a high-stakes arena. In this case, he already had 90% of Freddy Sanchez sitting on his roster, in the person of Kevin Frandsen.
Ooooh, but Frandsen was 0-for-20 or something when they brought him up this year. That must mean his whole minor league career never happened! So I guess there's no other course than to trade a top pitching prospect for two months of a slightly better version of him.
Buzzing Thalami, No offense but Frandsen couldn't carry Sanchez's jock. Minor league numbers don't always translate to the big leagues. Frandsen is a "judy" hitter with no patience at the plate. Frandsen is more like 9% of Sanchez. I've seen Alderson pitch a few times in San Jose. He is good, but is definitely no Bumgarner. His fastball is very hittable. If you look at his stats from AA you will see that he is giving up well over a hit an inning in a big time pitchers league in the best pitchers park in that league. He figures to be a #3 starter at best in the majors. Maybe a Jeff Suppan type. I'll take an established everyday player any day of the week. Lincecum and Cain struck out way more guys than Alderson when they were in the minors.
Sanchez is a 'judy' hitter with no patience at the plate.
The only part of Frandsen's mlb batting stats that are out of line with his Triple-A record is his BABIP. Only 35 year old catchers who hit lots of fly balls maintain a .245 BABIP. If Frandsen get's it up to a mlb average .300, his batting average is in the .290's, and he's just about the same hitter as Sanchez.
I don't think much of Sanchez (or Sabean), but I'm finding it hard as a Giants' fan to share in everybody else's fury over this deal. If perhaps Alderson were fanning more than 5.whatever batters per 9 innings in AA ball I would be a bit more bent out of shape.
He's a 20-yr old in AA walking fewer than 2 per 9 which he has consistently done throughout the minors. That's not a terrible K-rate for his age/level, especially as a ground ball pitcher.
On a talent level, Alderson > Sanchez. However, the Giants badly need hitters of any kind immediately if they are likely to contend. You can rightly argue that Sanchez is no great shakes, but he's an upgrade over what they have (as long as they have the nads to sit Renteria).
Isn't this basically the Betancourt to the Royals argument? The Royals SS situation was so bad that virtually anyone would be an improvement, but the Royals could've done much better and overpaid for the privilege of doing so. Similarly, the Giants 2B situation was so bad that they could've picked up someone similar or better than Sanchez without giving up a valuable prospect.
The Giants are competing for a playoff spot. The Royals are competing to avoid 100 losses. Sanchez can hit at a positionally-average or better level. Betancourt doesn't do anything well. At all.
Did the Giants overpay? Maybe, but they overpaid from a position of strength for a position of need in a playoff push. It's not at all similar to the Royals acquiring Betancourt.
It's true that the context is different, and we both seem to agree that the Giants and the Royals overpaid. You are also correct that the Giants have more reason for overpaying because they are a contender.
Still, what I was getting at was the basic philosophy behind the trade was the same. The Giants at 2B and the Royals at SS were so weak that anyone could have been an improvement, but merely grabbing the best available body and overpaying for the privilege to do so was not warranted.
Sanchez is better than Betancourt, but he's still injured and not that much different than an average major league Second basement except he was more expensive in terms of salary and of cash. The Royals didn't give up someone of Alderson's talent to get Betancourt, but they did take on salary and give up a prospect. Meanwhile, the Cardinals picked up Mark DeRosa for a lesser prospect, Julio Lugo was picked up for Chris Duncan (who is definitely not a prospect and subsequently sent to AAA)... If the Giants make the decision to take on salary, there were other options out there besides Sanchez who would #1 be healthy, #2 produce the same as Sanchez and #3 not cost Alderson.
I definitely think Alderson was the right pitcher to trade (assuming you want to make a playoff push this year, which your paying customers kind of demand when you are within a game or so of the wild card "lead") but I do believe that they could have gotten more in return. Hoping for Adam Dunn and getting Freddy Sanchez (who is on my HACKING MASS team for Pete's sake!) is a bit underwhelming.
Alderson is a nice prospect and has a chance to be good.
But:
- He's only at AA, and not striking out many batters
- The Giants have plenty of other good young starting pitchers
- I always EXPECT Sabean to get burned trading young guys for old guys, but he rarely does (the Pierzynski deal being the obvious exception.)
- Sanchez is not a bad player...about an average second baseman both offensively and defensively. He is a clear upgrade.
Um.. Anderson is a 20 year old starter succeeding in AA. Sanchez has a bad knee. I don't care if the Giants have more starting pitching prospects. I'll keep the 20 year old starter at AA and flip some other prospect for an average second baseman with two working knees.
Meanwhile, I'll save the 20 year old starter as a valuable chit for a player that makes a real difference, particularly at one of the other five holes in the Giants lineup. Look at the Phillies, who used those extra trading chits to pick up Lee.
In Tim Lincecum, Madison Bumgarner and Matt Cain, the Giants a potential top of the rotation for the ages. Jonathan Sanchez has a ton of potential but only a few pounds of consistency. Alderson appeared to be the future fifth starter in what might have been a fabulous rotation.
With only an average fastball but an excellent curve, control and poise, I think the key to Alderson's future success is the change up he is working on.
Tim gave up only one earned run in his Pirates AA debut today, although he yielded seven hits in 5.2 innings, walking one and fanning four. With his fastball being only average, Alderson needs to place his fastball well to avoid hard contact. That is where his control comes in.
That good control also allows Alderson to pitch backward, although in his six starts at Connecticut prior to being traded, he had hit the wall after a very good start after being promoted from San Jose, where he led the California League in ERA in 2008. Both Alderson and Bumgarner began their seasons in San Jose to take advantage of the better spring weather prior to their promotions to the Eastern League.
Alderson would appear to have middle-to-back-end rotation potential, and at only 20 years of age, he has plenty of time to develop into it. Joey Martinez will likely be called up on Wednesday from his rehab stint at Fresno. The Giants sent down Ryan Sadowski, their previous fifth starter. Maybe Martinez can take Alderson's place in the Giants rotation of the future. But Martinez has never been rated nearly the prospect Alderson has been.
It appears the Giants have a good chance of locking up Freddy Sanchez, perhaps through the end of 2013, when Lincecum will first be eligible for free agency and Barry Zito will come off the books. Sanchez is a .300-hitting three-time All-Star who is a gamer, a great clubhouse guy -- and probably not nearly as good a hitter as his .300 would imply.
If the Giants were going to trade Alderson, they needed to make him an important part of a package for a cleanup hitter. The potential free agent market looks a little thin in both 2009 and 2010 for potential cleanup hitters.
Bengie Molina is probably the worst cleanup hitter in the majors, and he will almost certainly give way behind the plate to Buster Posey in 2010. Posey should be a good hitter, but more of a #2 or #3 than a cleanup guy, particularly originally. Buster will likely open the 2010 season batting 8th. Possibly Pablo Sandoval could be a cleanup hitter, but then the Giants would likely be weak in the three-hole.
With a solid cleanup hitter, the Giants might approach being an average offensive team. With their pitching staff, that might be good enough to make the playoffs. Heck, there is at least a small chance they will wind up in the post-season this year.
But Alderson appeared to be an important part of the Giants' future, either as a member of the rotation or as trade bait for a middle-of-the-order hitter. The Giants improved themselves tremendously at second base for this season. But they gave up 11 years and around $7.5 million of salary in the exchange of Alderson for Sanchez.
If the Giants lock up Sanchez, they must hope that Jonathan is the only Sanchez associated with a lack of hitting. Freddy might be as closely associated with a lack of hitting as any .300 hitter ever. Still, he's a lot better than anything the Giants had the first four months of the season.
Short-term Freddy beats Alderson. Long term? We'll have to see.
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Methinks Brian Sabean is going to be regretting this deal...