Trading Ehire Adrianza

I don't get a lot right, so when I do, I'm allowed to bring it up forever. Last year, I gave the Most Likely To Be Traded For A 22-Year-Old Reliever In A-Ball Before The Season Starts " award to Conor Gillaspie. Then he was traded for a 22-year-old reliever in A-ball.

I go back and look at that post when I'm feeling down. Goodness, it was so correct, so prescient.

Gillaspie was out of options and he went to the White Sox, who actually started him on purpose. He would play in the same infield as Jeff Keppinger, too! Might again this year.

Sorry.

This isn't about Gillaspie -- the last player traded away since Nate Schierholtz! -- or Keppinger. This is about another prediction. Ehire Adrianza is out of options. Tony Abreu and Joaquin Arias both have major-league contracts. The Giants aren't keeping four shortstops on the major-league roster, even though it would be absolutely hilarious. As such, the Giants are already working the phones, seeing what teams will give them for Adrianza (or Abreu).

They'll probably get a 22-year-old reliever in A-ball.

That's code for "Just give us something", in which "something" is defined as an arm of moderate promise. The arm is attached to a pitcher who hasn't figured out pitching. Ninety-five times out of 100, it doesn't work. But those five times, boy. You might get a reliever for a season or two.

I wonder, though, if that's underrating Adrianza. In the post-Brendan Ryan world, teams actually want defense-first shortstops in the organization. And even though Adrianza isn't much of a hitter, he did okay across two levels last year. There's an outside chance he becomes a switch-hitting Brandon Crawford. He's ahead of Crawford statistically at the same age, actually.

I could see a trade for a not-insignificant prospect. No one on a top-10 list, but a prospect that seems worth having.

I could also see a trade for a 22-year-old reliever in A-ball.

There's no harm in making an exact guess, just for poops and titters. Brad Lincoln is out of options for the Phillies. He'll probably make the team. But he's my guess. Adrianza for Brad Lincoln.

The larger point is that Adrianza is either on the Opening Day roster, or he's gone. He's probably gone. It's a shame, really. He had a couple tools, at least. That made him a prospect in the Giants system for the longest time, and it'll be weird without him. We'll always have Yankee Stadium.

We'll always have Yankee Stadium. While I'm tempted to advocate an Abreu deal (or DFA), the odds are good that he'll be more valuable to the Giants for the next two seasons, and I'm kinda in a win-now mindset.

At least fans of another team will get to come up with the "internet job site!" joke all on their own.