No Idea

Like the man says, I don't know whether this is true or not. It would certainly fit into the notion I have of Brian Sabean, a guy I know best for giving up Francisco Liriano, Boof Bonser and Joe Nathan in exchange for a complete creep of a catcher. (I've had this trade defended at me before, and whether or not you find the Giants'/Sabean's reasoning even remotely persuasive, one must concede that it demonstrated a lack of understanding of the contents of S.F.'s minor-league system).

Anyway, the Giants got hammered 13-4 by the Brewers Friday; Bill Hall socked a pair of dingers, and the only satisfying moment came when Bengie Molina hit a bomb off reliever Salomon Torres. Yeah, that ol' guy. Milwaukee's starting and winning pitcher was a guy named Carlos Villanueva, who gave up two earned runs in five-plus, struck out six dudes ... basically played great as a fill-in for the missing (and injured) Yovani Gallardo. With Chris Capuano (the pride of Springfield, Mass.!) out for the season, Villanueva is going to get his shot to stick in the rotation.

Which is interesting, because:

Mostly, the Giants were left to admire Brewers starter Carlos Villanueva, who originally came through the San Francisco organization but went to Milwaukee in the 2004 trade that netted pitcher Wayne Franklin. There is a story here in Cheeseland that when the Brewers asked for Villanueva in the deal, Giants general manager Brian Sabean did not know who he was.

Yipes. So. The Giants signed young Carlos out of the D.R. in '02, and he spent a couple of seasons in Rookie ball. In the first, as an 18-year-old, he threw up a 0.89 WHIP and a 0.59 ERA in 30 innings. The next year, he tossed twice the number of innings and was quite a bit worse; 1.31 WHIP, 3.97 ERA, even as he still struck out a lot of dudes (67 in 59 IP).

Then, on the eve of the 2004 season, Sabean tossed him away for Franklin. Had to do it. There was no choice, really -- Franklin had been outstanding in 2003, throwing about 200 innings with a 5.50 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP. He had a 116-94 K-BB ratio, which is too good to pass up. And Franklin, needless to say, lived up to expectations with the '04 Giants, giving the team 50 IP and a 6.39 ERA. Bra-fucking-vo.

Any 18-year-old who puts up a 0.59 ERA in Rookie ball while striking out more than a batter per inning is, to some extent, a prospect. Even if he regresses the next year, at age 19, he's still a prospect. Do I think it's possible that Sabean didn't know who he was?

Unlikely, I guess. Still, I wouldn't put anything past a man who's capable of deciding he absolutely NEEDS Wayne Franklin.