Part I of a XVII-part miniseries -- Shiny Baubles We Can Get For Noah Lowry, or SBWCGFNL, or subwacguhfinil -- will begin in a moment. I wanted to get something out of the way first.
A lot of the talk about trading Noah Lowry on this site has been unfair. Most of the readers on this site make me sick when it comes to this topic, as a lot of you would trade Lowry...but only for someone under 30. What kind of ageist crap is that? I thought the point is to get good players -- players who can help a team win. Just because someone isn't in their 20s anymore, doesn't mean that they stop being useful or productive. A lot of players hit their peak in the 30s. Luis Gonzalez, for example. That other guy, with the hat, for another example.
The Giants should look at anyone who can help. This notion that a player has to be under 30 to be of use to an organization is ludicrous. And offensive. And against everything this country stands for. Age is just a number; it does not speak to the quality of the individual. One minute, you're advocating that a team doesn't acquire anyone over 30, and the next minute you're throwing a Molotov cocktail into a women's suffrage meeting. It's a slippery slope. Think about it.
With that off my chest, here's a look at a twenty-something player the Giants should think about acquiring in a Noah Lowry deal:
Why it makes sense for the Brewers:
The Brewers had Hall at short, but moved him to center to make room for J.J. Hardy. Hall had a terrible year, though, and he plays center like a good athlete just learning the position. The Brewers need pitching more than they need a center fielder who hit like Hall last year. They can take a chance that Hall will rebound and earn his eventual $8.4M salary in 2010, or they can move him to a team with extra pitching.
Why it makes sense for the Giants:
The Giants can't pay retail; they have to go to the outlet store. They don't have the chips or the scratch to get a young superstar coming off a fantastic season -- a Miguel Cabrera. They should be focusing on young players who are locked up for the future, but whose 2007 performance might have made them expendable. Hall can play a league-average shortstop -- think Rich Aurilia during his first run with the Giants -- and he probably isn't as bad as he was in 2007. He probably isn't as good as he was in 2006. Something in the middle would still fill a huge gap for the Giants.
Something that I'm going to include in every post about Noah Lowry's trade value:
A link to a list of free agent pitchers. Kip Wells...Kyle Loshe...Josh Fogg.... That's assuming a team doesn't want to pay through the nose for superstars like Bartolo Colon, Carlos Silva, and Jason Jennings.
Something at which I'm terrible:
Accurately assessing trade value. Would the Brewers have to kick something in? Would the Giants? Does a one-for-one trade work? Dunno.
Why it won't happen:
It'd probably make more sense for the Brewers to hope for a rebound from Hall and the starting pitchers they already have, like David Bush and Chris Capuano.
How the Giants can sweeten the pot:
A (mostly) free Dave Roberts. The Brewers were the runners-up in the Roberts sweepstakes. They might want him to replace Hall if they could get Roberts at a 50% discount. Win-win. Except for the Brewers. That's a minor point.