Giants reportedly still exploring trade for Rockies outfielder

The Giants probably aren't signing Justin Upton. They probably aren't signing Alex Gordon. They probably aren't signing Yoenis Cespedes. The only thing keeping those hopes and rumors alive is that it's hard to find a perfect fit for all of them, and prices might fall enough to tempt the Giants. But it's still wishful thinking.

Dexter Fowler, though? Still in play, same as Gerardo Parra (and maybe Denard Span). Ken Rosenthal has sources that confirm as much, though he suggests Parra is a more natural fit, whereas I'm pretty convinced that Fowler makes more sense for the current roster. As rumors go, the Giants being interested in both Fowler and Parra is pretty "sources indicate Madison Bumgarner will start Opening Day."

Jon Morosi, though, adds a new rumor wrinkle that we haven't discussed in detail yet. We know the Giants are likely interested in Carlos Gonzalez, even if only to get ONE LOUSY FREAKING SPLASH HIT next year. But Morosi also suggests that the Giants are interested in Corey Dickerson and Charlie Blackmon, too. This is a much different rumor than the Gonzalez one.

Start with Dickerson, a 26-year-old left-handed hitter with Gonzalez-like power and health. Of course he has serious Coors splits (1.085 OPS at home, .695 on the road), but the Coors effect screws with everyone on the road. If there were a pattern of Rockies hitters leaving the team and failing elsewhere, I'd be worried, but I don't think it's unrealistic to think that Dickerson could be a 15-20 homer hitter at AT&T with below-average to average defense in left.

The problems are that a) he's a left-handed hitter, b) he's not enough of a defender to play center regularly, and c) he's not a free agent until after the 2019 season, which means the Rockies don't have to trade him for anything less than a huge bundle of talent. They probably look at him like the Giants look at Joe Panik and Matt Duffy -- a part of the solution, not someone to trade for the solution.

Blackmon, though, makes a little sense. He's 29 and just starting his arbitration years. He's also a left-handed hitter, but his game has less to do with power, and more to do with contact and speed. He plays center, and while the defensive stats don't love him, I'm fairly certain that the vast acreage of Coors doesn't help those numbers.

That written, if he has a career OBP of .336 while playing half his games in Coors, what would he do at AT&T? And how sure can we be that he would be even average in center? He's under team control through the 2018 season, so the Rockies don't have to trade him, either. They can pretend they're trading a poor man's Andrew McCutchen instead of someone with Gregor Blanco's skill set, give or take, and see if anyone kicks down the door with a prospect cannon. Considering that he's probably more of a nice player to have rather than a true All-Star, that would be a rough way for the Giants to use their limited trade options.

The team control and salaries of these two players would be nice, but considering age, fit, and trade cost, give me Fowler every time. If the Giants are trading for a Rockies outfielder, the only one that makes sense is Gonzalez, and he barely makes sense. Blackmon and Dickerson are intriguing on the surface, but the deeper you dig, the worse the fit seems. Just spend the money, which most certainly isn't mine, and keep the young players and prospects.

Those young players and prospects might save the team money in the future, remember. And Fowler would probably make the 2016 team better, anyway.