The Giants, as we have beaten into your skulls at this point, want relievers and bats before the MLB trade deadline next week. Most of the names bandied about are pretty standard and not worth a big freakout thing.
But here's a name I didn't expect to see associated with the Giants: Hunter Pence.
That's right, the very talented Phillies outfielder's been linked with San Francisco.
"If Phillies decide to make Hunter Pence available, SF Giants expected to make a push," FoxSports.com's Jon Paul Morosi tweeted on Friday. "They want a [right-handed]-hitting [outfield] bat."
Now there are a whole pile of caveats to attach here. One, Pence might not be made available. After all, the Phils have now locked up Cole Hamels, declared Cliff Lee off the market, gotten Roy Halladay back, and climbed within 10 games of the NL Wild Card.
So they believe they can contend. Additionally, Pence is under control for 2013 as well (he'll be arbitration eligible) and it's hard to imagine the Phils punting him now, unless they can get someone back who's cheaper and similarly talented that can keep their payroll down in 2013.
One possibility is that the Phillies would like more relief pitching and would be willing to make some sort of swap with the Giants to send them Pence for another outfielder and a reliever. The Giants would then be on their to go out and get some relief help.
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At this point it's an interesting rumor, but it's also a highly-unlikely scenario given the way the Phillies are trending and how much the Giants are actually willing to give up.
