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Giants trade away left-handed power bat, acquire marginal relievers. Oh, that makes sense.

By Grant Brisbee

Hilarious. John Bowker and Joe Martinez for Javier Lopez. When I think scrapheap lefty, Lopez is who I'm thinking of. Trading a low-cost, low-upside starting pitcher is iffy enough. But Bowker? They traded five years of John Bowker for 20 innings of Lopez?

Here's Luke Scott in the minors:

 

Year Age Tm Lg Lev Aff G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB
2002 24 2 Teams 2 Lgs A-A+ CLE 97 384 334 50 83 22 5 15 62 11 2 37 105 .249 .336 .479 .815 160 5 8 3 2 0
2002 24 Columbus SALL A CLE 49 198 171 28 44 15 4 7 32 9 1 21 58 .257 .345 .515 .860 88 3 3 1 2 0
2002 24 Kinston CARL A+ CLE 48 186 163 22 39 7 1 8 30 2 1 16 47 .239 .326 .442 .768 72 2 5 2 0 0
2003 25 2 Teams 2 Lgs A+-AA CLE 117 474 424 58 117 25 2 20 81 6 4 38 99 .276 .342 .486 .828 206 2 6 3 3 0
2003 25 Kinston CARL A+ CLE 67 272 241 37 67 12 1 13 44 6 3 27 62 .278 .360 .498 .858 120 0 4 0 0 0
2003 25 Akron EL AA CLE 50 202 183 21 50 13 1 7 37 0 1 11 37 .273 .317 .470 .787 86 2 2 3 3 0
2004 26 2 Teams 2 Lgs A+-AA HOU 129 540 449 90 129 37 1 27 97 6 3 74 101 .287 .388 .555 .942 249 9 6 1 10 5
2004 26 Salem CARL A+ HOU 66 287 241 45 67 20 1 8 35 6 1 41 58 .278 .376 .469 .845 113 5 0 0 5 4
2004 26 Round Rock TL AA HOU 63 253 208 45 62 17 0 19 62 0 2 33 43 .298 .401 .654 1.055 136 4 6 1 5 1
2005 27 Round Rock PCL AAA HOU 103 449 398 69 114 25 4 31 87 2 2 43 96 .286 .363 .603 .966 240 4 6 0 2 1
2006 28 Round Rock PCL AAA HOU 87 381 318 63 95 15 1 20 63 6 1 52 66 .299 .400 .541 .941 172 3 5 1 5 6
7 Seasons 538 2245 1936 332 543 124 13 114 393 31 12 248 468 .280 .367 .535 .902 1035 23 31 8 22 12
A+ (3 seasons) 181 745 645 104 173 39 3 29 109 14 5 84 167 .268 .358 .473 .831 305 7 9 2 5 4
A (2 seasons) 51 204 175 29 47 15 4 8 33 9 1 23 58 .269 .360 .537 .897 94 3 3 1 2 0
AA (2 seasons) 113 455 391 66 112 30 1 26 99 0 3 44 80 .286 .364 .568 .931 222 6 8 4 8 1
AAA (2 seasons) 190 830 716 132 209 40 5 51 150 8 3 95 162 .292 .380 .575 .955 412 7 11 1 7 7
Rk (1 season) 3 11 9 1 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 1 .222 .364 .222 .586 2 0 0 0 0 0
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/31/2010.

 

Here's John Bowker:

 

 

Year Age Tm Lg Lev Aff G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB
2004 20 2 Teams 2 Lgs A--Rk SFG 41 191 170 37 63 16 3 6 27 2 0 15 36 .371 .440 .606 1.046 103 6 6 0 0 2
2004 20 Giants ARIZ Rk SFG 10 50 43 14 22 7 1 2 11 1 0 7 11 .512 .580 .860 1.440 37 1 0 0 0 0
2004 20 Salem-Keizer NORW A- SFG 31 141 127 23 41 9 2 4 16 1 0 8 25 .323 .390 .520 .910 66 5 6 0 0 2
2005 21 San Jose CALL A+ SFG 121 513 464 66 124 27 1 13 67 3 7 36 108 .267 .319 .414 .733 192 14 3 2 8 0
2006 22 2 Teams 2 Lgs A+-AAA SFG 114 515 466 61 133 32 6 7 66 6 3 37 100 .285 .339 .425 .763 198 12 2 7 3 3
2006 22 San Jose CALL A+ SFG 112 511 462 61 131 32 6 7 66 6 3 37 100 .284 .337 .424 .762 196 12 2 7 3 3
2006 22 Fresno PCL AAA SFG 2 4 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500 .500 .500 1.000 2 0 0 0 0 0
2007 23 Connecticut EL AA SFG 139 587 522 79 160 35 6 22 90 3 7 41 103 .307 .363 .523 .886 273 17 12 0 12 1
2008 24 Fresno PCL AAA SFG 23 102 93 13 22 3 1 2 9 2 0 7 23 .237 .304 .355 .659 33 1 2 0 0 0
2009 25 Fresno PCL AAA SFG 104 450 366 82 125 22 4 21 83 10 6 74 64 .342 .451 .596 1.047 218 6 4 0 6 6
2010 26 Fresno PCL AAA SFG 51 224 197 36 61 12 1 14 36 1 2 23 37 .310 .388 .594 .982 117 8 3 0 1 3
7 Seasons 593 2582 2278 374 688 147 22 85 378 27 25 233 471 .302 .370 .498 .868 1134 64 32 9 30 15
AAA (4 seasons) 180 780 660 131 210 37 6 37 128 13 8 104 124 .318 .414 .561 .975 370 15 9 0 7 9
A+ (2 seasons) 233 1024 926 127 255 59 7 20 133 9 10 73 208 .275 .328 .419 .747 388 26 5 9 11 3
AA (1 season) 139 587 522 79 160 35 6 22 90 3 7 41 103 .307 .363 .523 .886 273 17 12 0 12 1
Rk (1 season) 10 50 43 14 22 7 1 2 11 1 0 7 11 .512 .580 .860 1.440 37 1 0 0 0 0
A- (1 season) 31 141 127 23 41 9 2 4 16 1 0 8 25 .323 .390 .520 .910 66 5 6 0 0 2
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/31/2010.

 

Kind of eerie, no? It's not necessarily likely that Bowker will turn into Scott, but there was a chance -- a real chance -- that Bowker would provide some sort of value to the Giants. He even won the starting right field job in April. But here's what turns Bowker into a throw-in for a guy who can't throw strikes or strike lefties out:

82 at-bats

That's all the Giants needed to watch to make up their minds. That's what turns a starting RF into a scrub LHRP. It didn't matter that Bowker went back to AAA and continued to mash.

If Lopez is perfect, shutting down lefties with runners on at every opportunity, and if the Giants make the playoffs by a single game, maybe this isn't a complete debacle. Maybe that would give the Giants some kind of value.

So let's all just hope for that unlikely sequence of events.

Disgusting. Just disgusting.

Don't forget, though! We also acquired Ramon Ramirez, whom a contending team didn't want. It should be fun to see what comes back.

Enjoy, Pirates. You can shut up about Armando Rios now.

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