Okay, have the title written. Now I just have to find the secret genius. Which is hard. Because it's a secret. I'll do my best.
Over the next 24 hours, you'll read a lot of nonsense. Some of it will be actual nonsense. Peter Gammons sitting on his phone, or something. Most of it will be speculative nonsense. But it's all nonsense. There are about eight to ten rumormongers who cover Major League Baseball, and they're all fighting over the same scraps of truths, half-truths, and strategically placed red herrings.
The Giants will be involved. They will be in on Hunter Pence, out on Hunter Pence, and acquiring Shane Victorino as part of a deal that sends him to the Phillies for Hunter Pence. It'll be exciting, and the overreactions will be overblown. I used to hate this stuff. I'm pretty sure I've snapped, though, because now I'm thinking it's fun. I love the nonsense! It's a stream of high-fructose corn syrup, and I'll worry about the health problems later. Right now, I can pretend the trade rumors nourish me.
Except here was the biggest need for the Giants heading into the deadline: middle-infield help. Here's what they had in the minor leagues to offer for middle-infield help: just about nothing. The easiest way to improve the team was to pick up a middle infielder without giving up a top-ten prospect. In a perfect world, that is.
That's the genius of Marco Scutaro. No, he's not that good. But he's better than what the Giants had, and he didn't cost a lot. The Giants' biggest need was addressed at a minimal cost. Scutaro is an offensive improvement over Brandon Crawford, an offensive and defensive improvement over Ryan Theriot, and a better choice to fill in at third until Pablo Sandoval comes back. The correct answer was probably keeping Mike Fontenot, but this was a good non-spilt-milk alternative.
So I'll spend the next day eating up every stray rumor that floats across Twitter. I don't have a choice. It's my All My Children, and while I should be ashamed, I'm not. But if the Giants don't do another thing -- if they don't make another move at all -- I'm okay with it. I might even prefer it. The Giants had a big need. They filled it. I'm okay with them sitting on their hands for the rest of the deadline.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to stare at my Twitter feed until my eyes dry out.