Giants Should Give Up on Freddy Sanchez

Freddy Sanchez suffered another setback on his rehab from an injury he suffered last year.  After getting setbacks from his injury to his shoulder, Sanchez now has hurt his back. I tell you, Freddy Sanchez is like fragile glass. You can touch him softly in the chest with your finger and he would manage to suffer a chest injury.  Every season that Sanchez has been with the Giants he has been on the disabled list with some freak injury. Sanchez reminds me a lot of Sharks forward Martin Havlat. Like Havlat, there is always a freak injury that Sanchez gets.

            I do not think Freddy Sanchez is going to return to the Giants this season. He is in his mid 30s and has not played since last June. That is why the Giants need to pull the plug on Sanchez now and put him on the 60 day disabled list and then show him the door of free agency at the season’s end. By doing this the Giants can add a more useful player to their 40 man roster since a spot will not be taken up by an injured Sanchez. The Giants can hope and pray all they want that Sanchez will return and help the Giants, but it is becoming more and more wishful thinking. Even if Sanchez does return, he will not be the same player.

            The Giants need help now. They are playing average baseball where they lose just as many games as they win. That is not going to cut it if the Giants are going to make the playoffs this season.  They need to get more offense. This offseason they didn’t get enough offensive help through free agency because the team was banking on Buster Posey and Freddy Sanchez being healthy again. Posey is back but Sanchez isn’t and that leaves a big hole in the team’s struggling offense.  Sanchez was expected to fill the number two slot in the batting order. He was expected to get on base a lot and give batters like Posey and Sandoval a chance to hit him home.  Since he is not in the lineup, the team has been struggling to find a player to fill that slot in the lineup.

            The team cannot continue to struggle on offense by waiting for Sanchez to come back. They need to go out now and find another second baseman through a trade. Who they get and what they give up is not a concern to me. The Giants need to do something to spark this offense and a trade is the best way to do it. If they can’t do that, call up another minor leaguer and see if he can give the Giants some offense. A trade acquisition or minor leaguer couldn’t do any worse than Emmanuel Burriss or Ryan Theriot right now.

            I criticized Giants General Manager Brian Sabean last offseason for letting go of Jeff Keppinger. I thought he would have been a good replacement for Freddy Sanchez in case Sanchez got hurt. Keppinger is now batting .298 this season, a much better batting average than the second basemen the Giants currently have. I still don’t understand Sabean’s reasoning behind letting Keppinger go.

            However, that’s in the past. The Giants have to admit they made a mistake and cut their losses with Sanchez. The gamble didn’t pay off for the Giants. Yes, Sanchez was a good Giant and he contributed a lot for the team when he was healthy. He was a big part of the Giants World Series team in 2010. However, like many other Giants from that great 2010 season, Sanchez has faded away. His contract expires at the end of the season and the Giants would be stupid to resign him. The Giants need to give up on Sanchez and let him retire.

Sharks Should Consider Getting Roberto Luongo and Rick Nash

A few weeks ago I said how the Sharks needed to start rebuilding their team if they were ever going to be a Stanley Cup contender again. Looks like the Sharks ownership group still thinks the team could contend next year and it sounds like they do not want to rebuild. While they are telling Doug Wilson to make changes, it sounds like they want to make changes so that the Sharks can win it all next year. That is a mistake on the Sharks part and I made that clear in my last article.  Having said that, if they Sharks want to play to win it all next year here are a few moves I would make if I was Doug Wilson.

            The first move is to get goaltender Roberto Luongo from Vancouver. Reports have surfaced that Luongo has asked for a trade and Vancouver seems willing to do so. The Sharks should jump at this huge opportunity. Luongo is a much better goalie than Antti Niemi. While Niemi has won a Stanley Cup, Luongo came close with Vancouver last year, losing in game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. Still Niemi only won his Cup because he had a great supporting cast around him. Luongo has been to more all star games than Niemi, has better stats, and has been known to steal more wins for his team than Niemi. Luongo also can win under pressure as he lead team Canada to an Olympic Gold medal in the last Winter Olympics.

            So how do you get a player like Luongo? Well, the Sharks would obviously have to give up a star player and that player is Patrick Marleau. It’s a trade I think Vancouver would accept. Marleau will be turning 33 next season, so he would be a few months younger than Luongo who already is 33. Marleau gives the Canucks more offensive power and speed. Plus Marleau is only under contract for two more years while Luongo is under contract for 10 more years so the Canucks would be more than happy to have less money to pay to a player. The contract for Luongo is a concern to me given the length of time and that he won’t be a free agent until he is 43. However, if the Sharks are going to ruin their future by having a win now mentality, a few good years from Luongo is worth the risk of a huge contract especially if he wins the team a Stanley Cup. Giving up Marleau for Luongo straight up is a no brainer for me. Marleau is not a winner. Never has been and never will be. It would be great for Marleau and the Sharks if they parted ways so that each side can start fresh. Getting Luongo improves the Sharks defense big time.

            So how do you replace the offense that you lose for trading Marleau?  Well, if the team gets Luongo, they will no longer need Niemi and he would make great trade bait for an offensive player. Niemi only has a salary cap hit of 3.8 million dollars and in today’s NHL that is easy to move to another team. If I am Doug Wilson, I would trade Niemi to Columbus for none other than Rick Nash. Nash is a goal scorer who averages out over 30 goals a season. Sometimes he scores 40 goals a season. With Joe Thornton at his side making passes, Nash can be an offensive machine for the Sharks. Plus Nash is only 27 so he is in the prime of his career. Nash wants out of Columbus and wants to play for a team that will get to the playoffs. The Sharks are that kind of team.  Columbus would be more than happy to rid itself of a player who still has six years left on his contract. Plus in return, Columbus would get a Stanley Cup winning goaltender that could get Columbus in the playoffs. The trade would work out for both teams.

            Whether or not Doug Wilson makes these kinds of trades is yet to be seen, but if he is serious about competing for the Stanley Cup next year he should definitely get Luongo and Nash on board. Together, those two can help the Sharks go a long way.