Possible Giants targets

With less than 12 hours to go before the July 31st non waiver trade deadline passes, I don't expect we'll see additional Giants moves but it is certainly possible. The Giants  have made the decision to go for it this season yet set themselves up for the future somewhat. The team still has needs and can upgrade in a few areas so expect that Brian Sabean will be combing every opportunity until 1600 EDT today. 

The team could look to upgrade a back of the rotation starter and another bat, likely a LF but they won't be very picky. Here is a short list of who they are likely targeting:

Mark Teahan- the Royals infielder can play nearly anywhere... Literally. 2B, 3B, 1B, LF, RF. He has shown good power over the years but has been inconsistent offensively. He would likely be a platoon guy similar to what they expected from Frandsen, but not have an established position on this team. He's controllable for one more season and is a local CA guy out of Redlands. This season, Teahan is hitting .290/.344/.450/.794 with 9 homeruns. Teahan is not likely to slip through waivers in August 

Carl Crawford- Crawford is one of the games most underated superstars and not likely to be moved. With one more very affordable team option, Crawford makes sense to keep for the Rays except this may be the best time to capitalize on his value. He's the perfect fit to AT&T park and quite possibly could reach 25-30 triples playing there. No one in the league is better at stealingbases currently than Crawford and his high OBP is just what the Giants need. The Rays won't become sellers this season, but have indicated they might move him if it involved getting something of greater need back for this years playoff run do to clear money, sat Roy Halladay. Crawford is not likely to clear waivers in August. 

Josh Willingham- Willingham has really gotten hot recently and may have just played himself into staying on the Nationals for years to come but just last week they were still talking about him. He has the power potential to hit 30 homeruns but is somewhat limited in his dimensions offensively. Willingham is team controllable for a few more seasons and is cheap now. One factor against him is he's already 30 si this could be the ideal sell high time... Hry wait, Sabean loves to buy high, who needs match dot com when you have this? He could be the power bat the Giants want in LF this season but as the Nats GM Frank Rizzo has made aware, he won't come cheap. They wanted Jonathan Sanchez for Nick Johnson! What do you think they'd want for Willingham... Matt Cain???? No way he slips through waivers.

Jermaine Dye- The white Sox think they are still in the race so GM Kenny Williams hasn't made Dye available yet, but it could come soon. Dye would give the Giants that natural cleanup hitter they long for and positionally fits great. Another NorCal guy, he would be very familiar here. For an aging OF with questionable knees and a rather large 2010 salary, there is very little question he slips through waivers so don't worry about him. The Giants still have a month. 

Carlos Lee- Lee is a bit of an enigma here. The OF spurred the Giants a few years ago to sign for less with the Astros for their Hitters park and has not even lived up to that contract. He's owed a lot ($56 million more thru 2012 & full NTC) for a long time still, but if you compare him to our other two deals that way(Zito/Rowand) his numbers look good...and technically Sabean didn't give him that contract so he can't take fault right? On one hand, he didn't want to come here anyways so why should we want him. On the other, well, I still don't want him but the 'Stros may pick up some coin on him and it won't take a buster/Madison/angel to get him... And he should clear waivers over and over.

Jon Garland- This DBacks starter has been consistent if anything else recently. nothing spectacular or over powering but he'll give at least the quality innings Zito has. That's pretty good if you're looking to improve a back end spot. He might just be the difference in 2 more wins the last two months. 2 wins is 2 wins. He has a mutual 2010 option but not so favorable wording regarding trading him this season. If he is, the acquiring team cannot offer arb if he's a type A FA. Garland is questionable but likely to clear waivers.

Jarrod Washburn- This Seattle starter is having a renaissance season perfectly timed with his walk year. He is more of a number 3 starter than a back end guy but is owed a good chunk of change still and is likely to clear waivers. The problem is he's likely to garner type A FA status so the Mariners are going to push for 2 quality prospects back even though the likelyhood they extend arbitration in the first place is very low.

Brian Bannister- This Royals pitcher is still fairly young and controllable for 2 more seasons so it would be likely the Royals look for a sweet return on Bannister. He's another quality three guy and doesn't cost much at all. He is not likely to clear waivers in August.

One thing to keep in mind: With this economy, this "trade deadline" will be as loose as ever and more players than ever before should slip through waivers. The August deadline should be busier than July's. Expect the Giants to deal again...