Earlier this month, I deemed the trade market weak at many positions, including catcher and shortstop. Giants GM Brian Sabean appears to agree. His comments to Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle and other reporters yesterday:
"Right now, we don't see an upgrade with the names out there at shortstop or at catcher, and that kind of puts you in a box. A lot of the names that are being speculated on aren't even in the market. Will that change in the last 48 or 72 hours? Perhaps. Quite frankly, there are some teams that we wish would fall out of it so that we could have more conversation."
With the Reds still in contention and not likely to move Ramon Hernandez, Geovany Soto rumors scarce, and Ronny Paulino likely to stay put, it's difficult to find an available starting catcher. I wonder if Sabean was referring to the Reds, who are three games out and have strong catching depth beginning with Hernandez. Colorado's Chris Iannetta would be a nice addition, but Sabean and Dan O'Dowd have never made a significant trade that I can find.
On the shortstop front, failing a surprise blockbuster deal for Hanley Ramirez, the best options might be the Astros' Clint Barmes or the Dodgers' Jamey Carroll and Rafael Furcal. As the Brewers might tell you, shortstop upgrades are hard to come by this summer.
The Giants remain intrigued by the Twins' Michael Cuddyer, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. At seven games out, the Twins might be drifting out of contention, but it appears they'll retain Cuddyer anyway and try to re-sign him.
