Sources: Giants willing to deal Jonathan Sanchez
In an effort to free up money so they can pursue offensive upgrades, the Giants are willing to trade starter Jonathan Sanchez, according to major-league sources.
The Giants have one of the best (and most expensive) starting rotations in baseball. One rival executive projected that, including salary arbitration awards, the team’s six returning starters – Sanchez, Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum, Ryan Vogelsong, Madison Bumgarner, and Barry Zito – could combine to earn as much as $60 million in 2012. That is roughly half of the team’s payroll.
When including the bullpen – with well-compensated relievers like Brian Wilson, Jeremy Affeldt, and Javier Lopez – San Francisco is on track for perhaps the highest pitching expenditure (by percentage of payroll) of any team in the major leagues.
So if the Giants are to sign a significant hitter while maintaining a payroll around $120 million, they will probably need to part with one current starter.
Sanchez is the most expendable. He’s likely to earn around $6 million next year before becoming a free agent after the 2012 season. But his value is at a low point, coming off a season in which his walk rate peaked while he threw barely more than 100 innings because of injuries and wildness.
Sanchez performed like a No. 5 starter this season, but other teams will need to weigh whether the motivation of a contract year will help the left-hander return to the form he showed while having a career year (13-9, 3.07 ERA, 193 1/3 innings) for the champion Giants in 2010.
-- Jon Paul Morosi
