Giants interested in Matt Garza?

Funny how a losing skid makes these rumors posts seem completely irrelevant. Kyle Crick had a great game on Thursday night; that sort of thing seems a lot more relevant to the future success of the Giants than any kind of trade within the next month.

But there's a blurb from Jon Heyman that mentions the Giants as suitors for Matt Garza, and, well, let's dive in:

The Orioles, Rangers, Giants, Padres and Dodgers are all said by sources to have varying degrees of interest in acquiring Garza, with the Red Sox, Blue Jays and several other teams seen as possible destinations for the 29-year-old.

Okay. That the Giants are one of the teams listed is interesting. That the Giants are one of seven teams listed (along with a nebulous mention of "several other teams") is more interesting. Seems like it's time for a quick and dirty deadline primer.

1. If there is a good player on the market, lots of teams will want him.

2. If lots of teams want this good player, the winning team will have to part with good prospects.

3. The Giants do not have a lot of good prospects, and they would have to gut the farm system if they want to outbid teams.

4. The Giants do not want to gut the farm system.

5. These trade targets really aren't that good, either.

6. The Giants aren't trading for a good player.

Oh, maybe they will gut the farm system. Especially if the Cubs throw in Nate Schierholtz. There will be gnashing and rending, and we'll put coins on the eyes of our prospect-crushes and float them down the river. It will make everyone freak out, as it should. This doesn't seem like a team that's a Matt Garza away from the playoffs, much less the World Series, and while fans always overrate their own prospects, it's hard to see a good reason to trade a couple top-10 prospects for three months of any pitcher right now, much less one who has been consistently above-average (but nothing more) over his career.

I'm not worrying about it, though. Now, I don't have a source. I don't have discussions with people familiar with the Giants' thinking. I don't have the numbers of high-ranking execs who wish to remain anonymous. But here's a list of pitchers I'd expect the Giants to trade for before they get Garza:

1. Aaron Harang
2. Joe Blanton
3. Jose Contreras
4. Kevin Correia
5. That guy with the titanium bracelet that gives him special powers

I can buy the Ricky Nolasco rumors because the Marlins want to stop paying him money, and teams will be futzing with the money they want back from the Marlins. The first teams to agree to take on his entire salary will take the lead, and maybe the Giants are willing to do that.

I can buy the Bud Norris rumors because he can help the Giants next season, when they'll have a couple rotation openings. Plus, he's not exactly bidding-war material. He's the kind of guy who doesn't make a good postseason rotation, so it's hard to see too many teams coming over the top and one-upping each other with prospects.

I can't buy the Matt Garza rumors. It just seems like an awful fit for a team less than two years away from trading away Zack Wheeler for a rental. It's like that line from Marked for Death that made AFI's Top 100 Movie Quotes: "Everybody want go heaven. Nobody want dead." The Giants want dead less than just about every other team Heyman listed. They're going to pass on this one.