Despite the fact that history tells us the Giants probably won't be trading for Jose Reyes, speculation has run wild that the team would be interested in acquiring the high-priced-but-high-in-talent shortstop of the New York Mets.
And, yes, I'm guilty as charged. On two counts.
Thankfully, there's an angry voice of reason out there who knows more about this situation than anyone in baseball: Giant General Manager Brian Sabean!
"I can't respond to [the report about talking with Mets about Reyes]," Sabean told ESPN New York. "Honestly, I haven't seen or talked to Sandy Alderson since January ... I haven't talked to anybody from the Mets so I have no idea where the hell it came from."
Well, it came from a New York-based source, according to CSN Bay Area's Mychael Urban, so it doesn't necessarily have to come via anyone related to Sabean's end of things, though you'd think that if Sabean had done some talking to someone, he would probably know.
"So typical of today's world, I guess we're playing in New York and our shortstop [Miguel Tejada] isn't playing too well and [Reyes] is a free agent to be," Sabean said. "It's connect-your-dots, so there's nothing to talk about. Talk to the clown from CBS or whatever outlet [expletive] came up with it."
Yikes! Now, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Sabean knows what "Comcast Sports Network" is -- after all, he's able to balance his payroll books thanks to the network airing a game or two of the Giants during the season.
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And maybe the expletive actually means he's angry that the news IS REAL AND IS LEAKING.
Or, more likely, he's just angry that there's already speculation about what the Giants need to regroup, despite the calendar having not even made its annual turn to June yet.
And that's okay, because if expectations become "We should get Jose Reyes" instead of "The team's offense can bounce back," suddenly Sabean starts fighting an uphill battle.
Here's the other thing about this hypothetical deal: as we mentioned both times before, it would take a serious prospect and/or package of prospects for the Giants to make a play for Reyes. Brandon Belt, Madison Bumgarner, Zach Wheeler ... one of them will probably have to be involved.
And, unfortunately, that's about it when it comes to a Giants farm system that ranks 23rd in the majors in talent, according to Baseball America. Dealing one of those guys for a rental is not only the opposite of Sabean's modus operandi, but it goes against the notion of "We just won a World Series, now let's set ourselves up for the future."
Does that mean that the speculation will end? Nope, and certainly not until the Giants lineup starts swinging the bats, which might not be for a while given the lineup they're trotting out these days.
