Credit: William Perlman/THE STAR-LEDGER via US PRESSWIRE

Finding a Giant fan who didn’t like the Tommy Joseph and Nate Schierholtz for Hunter Pence trade is pretty difficult. Sure, some may not care for Pence specifically, but overall, finding fault in the move isn’t easy for anybody. The Giants got a MLB-level upgrade and traded a minor leaguer, who while talented, was organizationally blocked by both Buster Posey and Hector Sanchez. Both San Francisco and Philadelphia could smile about the deal and go on their separate ways feeling like they patched a pretty big hole in their respective organizations.

Thankfully for Giant fans, that’s how it played out because according to ESPN’s Buster Olney, the Giants almost made another trade before pulling the trigger with Phillly:

Before the trade deadline, the Giants tried to get the Yankees’ Eric Chavez, offering Nate Schierholtz.

Olney doesn’t speculate on why the deal didn’t go through, but it appears it was the Yankees who declined, either by asking too much or not seeing enough of an upgrade in Schierholtz. One could also reasonably assume that the potential Chavez/Schierholtz swap was talked about prior to the Bronx Bombers acquiring Ichiro Suzuki from the Seattle Mariners as both Nate and Ichiro would be redundant for the Yankees.

Chavez hasn’t exactly been poor this year for the Yankees as he’s hit .269 with 10 HR and 24 RBI in just 175 AB’s, but that there is the problem with the former Athletic’s slugger – staying on the field. Chavez hasn’t played more than 90 games in a season since 2006 and when he has been on the field, the results have generally been pretty poor.

A much better hitter off right handers, the Giants brass was probably assuming Chavez to play the role of current Giant Marco Scutaro given his career .280 average off righties, but still – Eric Chavez? Hard not to think the Giants would’ve been better off looking elsewhere.

Point is moot now with both Marco Scutaro and Hunter Pence in orange and black, but things could’ve turned out so differently.

Credit: ©Jason O. Watson-US PRESSWIRE

When it comes to being a “players” manager, few will rank higher than current Giants skipper Bruce Bochy. He’s generally laid back, especially when it comes to his players and tends to make use of his entire roster (maybe sometimes too much or too deep) appeasing most of his lesser talent. Unfortunately for a select few though, as has been Bochy’s reputation for his entire managerial career, he tends to have a short leash with particular players for no rhyme or reason. Be it Xavier Nady or Ben Johnson in San Diego or Nate Schierholtz or Brandon Belt in San Francisco, there always seems to be one or two players under his current wrath while older struggling talent continues to play over the promising youth. Former Giant Nate Schierholtz, who was recently traded to Philadelphia in exchange for Hunter Pence let his feelings be known in a CSNPhilly piece from insider Jim Salisbury:

“It got to the point [in San Francisco] where I didn’t see myself having an everyday role,” said Schierholtz, a 28-year-old left-handed hitter. “I felt like I needed a chance to earn more playing time, maybe get 100 at-bats in a row, but it wasn’t going to happen.”

Schierholtz said he spoke to Giants manager Bruce Bochy about his situation.

“I felt like I was on a short leash,” he said. “I felt like I was series-to-series, if you didn’t get a hit you were back on the bench. We didn’t see eye to eye. But overall, San Francisco treated me great. I have a lot of great memories.”

Schierholtz does hold some valid points. Bochy’s reputation is what it is for a reason. He’s a guy who prefers proven vets who’ve done it before, even if they’re not doing it any longer. They’re his ship and he’ll go down with them if need be. Sometimes, it’s frustrating for fans and players alike who would prefer alternative options, but at the same time Bochy isn’t without reason for his moves.

Somebody like Belt or Schierholtz hasn’t proven worthy to be an every day starter when given the opportunities. Complain as they may, when given the chance they didn’t take full advantage and that’s on them. Certainly there are scenarios that can hamper the process, be it inconsistent or sporadic playing time, but Nate was given plenty of innings (years, really) to play himself into a bigger role – even essentially being given the starting right field job before John Bowker beat him out for it.

With two sides to every story, both Bochy and Schierholtz have validity in their points/gripes/ways, but I have a feeling this wont be the last time we see a young player less than thrilled with Bruce Bochy’s managerial style.

Hell, it might not be the last time this month.