I just saw that the Cardinal's catcher Yadier Molina was taken off the field on a stretcher after a collision at homeplate. There's no word on how long he will be out, but hes being kept in a hospital overnight and the initial diagnosis appears to be whiplash. I have no clue how long he could be out, but their back up is Jason Lerue, who has not hit .200 since 2005.

The Cardinals are a serious contender this year, and despite having the 2nd best record in the national league, are 2nd place in the NL Central. If Yadier is out for an extended period of time, the Cardinals will likely be looking to trade for a catcher.

Enter Bengie Molina

The Giants are expected to be sellers at the trading deadline, and Molina definitely has the most value of anyone we should be trading (not lincecum/cain).

Some prospects in the Cardinals system that they might be willing to part with:

Jon Jay  

Tyler Herron

The Cardinals also are likely to upgrade their situation at 2nd base. They are currently platooning Aaron Miles and Adam Kennedy, who have .300 and .319 slugging percentages respectively. They might be willing to take a risk on Durham if the Giants eat some of his salary.

Madison Bumgarner is now ranked 13th on Project Prospect's top prospect rankings

only 4 players from the 07 draft are ahead of him on the list Porcello, Price, LaPorta, and Wieters

Link here

Big V was also dropped from the list because of a lack of consistent contact. I am confident he will be the 40+ home run a year guy everyone wants him to be, but on another fanpost, people had him cracking the 2010 opening day roster.

I don't think he will reach the majors until 2012 or mid 2011 at the earliest

As the trading deadline approaches, I am beginning to wonder if B.S. will take his rebuilding commitment seriously and trade away as many veterens as possible; or will he be tempted to keep a potential .500 team on the field. As of right now, Randy Winn has the most AB's of anyone on the Giants this season. With both Randy Winn and Bengie Molina signed through 09', it's pretty doubtful that they will contribute at all to any competitive Giants teams that hopefully will arrive around 2010/2011.

Molina should be able to fetch us a B level prospect or maybe even more if we throw in a young middle reliever or trade with the right knucklehead team.

Randy WInn should be able to get us a C level prospect, and the Giants might have to pay some of his salary, but it would clear the path for Nate Schierholtz who has no business being in the PCL.

And even with Ray's lukewarm start, we could probably even dump half his salary. I would much rather watch Denker hit .240 then watch Ray Ray hit .280

The absolute worst thing the Giants could do this year, is play all the veterens, win something like 70-75 games, and not build anywhere towards the future. I know the draft isn't as sure a thing as it is in the NFL (which is still never a sure thing in its own right), but picking somewhere between 10-15 next year would be a complete disaster. We need as many high profile hitting prospects as we can garner.

I'm feelin this Grant Green guy.

3) Grant Green SS Southern California

Green is probably the best shortstop prospect in America whose last name isn’t Beckham. His upside is similar to Troy Tulowitzki minus a little glove but plus a little power and two working quadriceps. Green started the year off a little slow but has rebounded nicely. And after a 13 game hitting streak was recently snapped he sits at .386/.425/.667 on the season – USC plays in a pitchers park (87 PF) and against very tough competition (2 SoS). Green is a good athlete and efficient base runner (8/9 steals). His power potential is what will really have teams intrigued, .281 IsoP and 40.68 XBH% project very well for a shortstop. With a big spring next year and a bump in his walk rate – he has drawn just 11 free passes this season – he could go in the top 7 picks, like Tulo.

Link Here

• San Francisco is rumored to be shifting focus to Gordon Beckham at No. 5, unless either Tim Beckham or Buster Posey falls to them.

For whatever reason I just don't have a good feeling about this pick

I want me some Smoak

But I'd also be down with T Beck or Posey

But Alvarez would be steller too

no pitchers please

i would not like that

ok word minimums are really really annoying

Link Here

The Giants are always a difficult team to project as they play their hand very close to the vest, both in their dealings with the media and with the scouting industry as a whole. They filled the system with young long-term talent in last year’s draft, and might feel some pressure to find something that provides less risk and a quicker turnaround with such a high pick. The top college bat available at this point is likely South Carolina first baseman Justin Smoak, but Gordon Beckham could find himself in the mix if the Giants are one of the teams that believe he can stay at shortstop; other teams are about 50/50 on that proposition. There are some wacky rumors about the Giants going totally off the board and taking an up-the-middle college player that is not Gordon Beckham, somebody that nobody else has in their first-round mix, but there are always a few wacky rumors around, and it’s difficult to sort out the few that have basis in fact.

I really hope this stays a wacky rumor

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http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2008/04/giants-may-draf.html

the more i think about it, the more i like it

unless Beckam or Alvarez is there at number 5 (unlikely) why not draft a pitcher

while i do like smoak, neither he nor big v look much like left field material

if the giants were to pick up brian matusz or aaron crow (not the three guys that were mentioned in the blurb) i would be extremely happy

we could always trade away one of our 2007 first round draftees away for offense thats closer to the majors