Giants designate Casey McGehee for assignment

In retrospect, with the benefit of hindsight, knowing what we know now, it's possible, just possible, that the Casey McGehee trade wasn't a good idea. The Giants designated the embattled veteran for assignment on Sunday, exposing him to waivers. The Giants will have 10 days to trade or release him if he clears waivers, after which he can accept an assignment to Triple-A.

While it's not a huge surprise that McGehee isn't the starting third baseman anymore, it's something of a surprise that the Giants would give up on their $5 million investment entirely before the end of May. The Giants have realized they've made a mistake on a veteran before, as they did with Miguel Tejada in 2011, but they didn't designate him until August 31 of that year.

Matt Duffy is the starting third baseman now, and the move probably came early to give the Giants a solid two months to evaluate where he falls on the stopgap-cornerstone spectrum. If he slumps, the Giants would be active in the trade market. If he hits well, the Giants will an entirely homegrown infield locked up for the next couple years. Not bad for a team that's had a bottom-third farm system since Madison Bumgarner and Buster Posey were called up.

There's still a chance that McGehee sticks around in Sacramento and sneaks back on the roster at some point, so hold off on the Sarah McLachlan tribute for now. All we know is that the one obvious soft spot in the lineup isn't on the roster anymore, which means the Giants are incrementally better already. The idea made a certain amount of sense -- get a singles hitter to stuff in the middle of the singles hitters, and watch the Giants single other teams to death. Alas, McGehee literally did nothing else well, which meant he was one of the least valuable players in baseball once he was below the Mendoza Line. We'll use him as a double play-related punchline for the next 20 years.

We'll always have the grand slam, though.

He'll always be tied with Ryan Klesko and Alberto Castillo on the Giants' all-time list. You can't take that away from him.