Giants ahead in 'bidding war' for Ricky Nolasco

Sometimes headlines will surprise you. "Giants trade for Orlando Cabrera?" Why would they do that? Surprise! And sometimes headlines will not surprise you. The Giants are reportedly ahead in the bidding war for Ricky Nolasco. Also, there's a bidding war for Ricky Nolasco.

One rival GM who's trying to get Nolasco himself believes Sabean will win bidding war #SFGiants

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) June 25, 2013

Nolasco's ERA+ this season: 105. His ERA+ for his career: 94. Here are some Giants pitchers with a better ERA+ over their Giants careers:

• Ryan Sadowski
• Matt Morris
• Mike LaCoss
• Kirk Rueter
• Shawn Estes

That is to say, Nolasco is not exactly "bidding war" caliber. He's more of a "begrudging acceptance"-type. The Matt Morris years? Basically Ricky Nolasco. The Matt Morris years were not exciting. Even more than that, Nolasco is a free agent after the season. In his very, very best season, he was worth a little over four wins. That means even if he pitches as well as he ever has, he'll give the Giants an extra win or two over the rest of the season. Again, that's if, for some reason, he pitches as well as he did in 2008. If he pitches like he did over the last four years, he wouldn't even be an upgrade on Barry Zito.

That isn't to say the Giants shouldn't get Nolasco. If the Marlins want to be rid of the salary, and they're willing to take a 25-year-old in San Jose or something, hey, have at it. That'd be a big help. But the words "bidding war" give me the jibblies. It's Ricky Nolasco. A bidding war for Ricky Nolasco is like a bidding war for a mayonnaise sandwich.

I guess if the world is ending and no one has any sandwiches ...