The Lunatic Fringe

I really liked the Jeff Keppinger trade, partially because I never really liked Jason Stoffel, and Sosa is a never-was.  I liked the Carlos Beltran trade despite some misgivings about our need to upgrade the outfield, because I think this is the top value we’ll get for Zack Wheeler, and Beltran was the best hitter on the trade market.

But Orlando frickin’ Cabrera?

These days, Bruce Bochy had to decide between a defensive liability (Miguel Tejada, when healthy), an offensive liability (Brandon Crawford), or an unappealing combination of both (Mike Fontenot).  Now, he got a guy who doesn’t really improve much in any area.

Even worse, he did it by trading away Thomas Neal.  I’ve had the opportunity to meet Thomas Neal while writing for SFDugout, and he’s genuinely one of the coolest baseball players I ever met.  He was at the park for the World Series, which I don’t believe you could say of many of the Giants prospects.  I believed in his ability to be the long-term left fielder for the Giants, and still believe he’s a regular everyday player.  I wish it wouldn’t be in Cleveland.  Good luck, Thomas, you deserved better.

I get that Cabrera is a veteran presence, but this team wasn’t really lacking in presence.  And this team hasn’t needed intangibles.  It needs real offense.  No, there wasn’t any real offense at shortstop available once Jose Reyes came off the market, but this trade felt like a trade just to make a trade.

Want me to say something positive?  Fine.  Thanks for giving the strip some material, Sabes!