Over the weekend, it was reported that the San Francisco Giants were putting LHP Jonathan Sanchez on the trade block. It took less than 48 hours for Sanchez trade rumors to become reality.

Cabrera is headed west to San Francisco

The Giants traded Sanchez and minor leaguer Ryan Verdugo to the Kansas City Royals for CF Melky Cabrera. This is a steal and a half by the Royals.

Look, I know Sanchez isn’t going to be Sandy Koufax or even CC Sabathia with the Royals, but the one thing that the Royals don’t have to help their rebuilding process is quality starting pitching. Having Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, and Wil Myers is great and all, but if you don’t have anybody to prevent runs, it doesn’t matter.

Sanchez will at least give the Royals another quality starting pitcher to go along with Luke Hochevar and Danny Duffy. And that’s the one thing the Royals have seriously lacked over the last 16 years — quality starting pitching.

Since 2007, Sanchez has averaged 9.5 K/9 and 134 innings pitched. In 2010, Sanchez led baseball with a 6.6 H/9.

Of course the big issue with Sanchez has always been his control. In that same time frame, Sanchez has walked 4.8 batters per nine. He’s essentially been the west coast version of Oliver Perez. Sanchez will always fall into the category of “If we can just get him to harness his control, then he will be very good.”

I don’t think Sanchez will magically harness his control with the Royals, but they don’t need him to. If Sanchez can stay healthy and make 30 starts, he will give the Royals more than what Jeff Francis or Kyle Davies gave them in 2011.

For the Giants, they get a Melky Cabrera coming off his best season in the Major Leagues in 2011. In 2011, Cabrera hit .305/.339/.470 with 18 HR’s, 20 SB’s, and had a 4.2 WAR in 706 plate appearances. Cabrera also had 201 hits, which was good for fourth in all of baseball.

Cabrera really had an amazing year and a year that I thought he was never capable of. I always viewed him more as a fourth outfielder than anything else. And despite his breakout year in Kansas City, I get the sense Cabrera is going to return to the marginal player he was in New York and Atlanta in San Francisco.

Here are the things that scare me about Cabrera going to San Francisco. His BB Percentage dipped from 8.3 percent in 2010 to five percent in 2011. His K Percentage increased from 12.6 percent in 2010 to 13.3 percent in 2011. Cabrera had a .338 BABIP in 2011.

Essentially, Cabrera showed less patience than he ever has and was striking out more than ever before, but benefited from a very high BABIP. Those type of numbers usually don’t translate year to year.

I also don’t like Cabrera in center field for the Giants. Over the past two seasons, Cabrera’s -14.7 UZR in center field is one of the worst in baseball. Now he is going to San Francisco, where center field is the size of a football field. Good luck with that.

This is a good trade by the Royals. They ship out Cabrera when he value was at its peak and will replace him with Lorenzo Cain, who they got in the Zack Greinke deal, and they get a much needed starting pitcher.

As for the Giants, as my buddy Odie said “They love mediocre hitters in San Fran.” Yup, that pretty much sums it up.

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By The Baseball Index