S.F. Giants Trade For Hawkins

Hmmm… You always have to be hesistant when your favorite teams trade former first-round draft picks. There is a universal acceptance for established major league players over minor league players, no matter how talented or rated these players are. But the Giants trade 2003 first-round draft pick David Aardsma and 1999 sandwich pick Jerome Williams for RP LaTroy Hawkins of the Chicago Cubs. I was a big fan of Hawkins when he was a set-up man for the Twins. Somewhere, he lost his stuff, or it wasn’t the right stuff for being a closer. With the injury to Prior, the Cubs need SPs. Losing two 23-year old SPs hurts the Giants in the far term rather than the long term, but the organization has a knack for developing pitchers. But I will have to give credit to GM Sabean. He obviously lost confidence in the now injury prone Williams like he lost confidence in SP Kurt Ainsworth before he traded him to the Baltimore Orioles when we wanted SP Sydney Ponson. Ainsworth developed a freak injury and might never pitch again the majors. Score one for Sabean, but tough luck for Ainsworth (he had real stuff). So, time will tell, but it’s gonna hurt to lose Aardsma, but hopefully Hawkins can solidify the bullpen until Benitez gets back two-three months from now. It’s gonna be a long summer. I wish we had Barry back.

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