If The Giants Want To Trade A Relief Pitcher, Make It Brian Wilson

There seems to be little swing room between the two camps when it comes to trading Brian Wilson. You either want him gone, or you don’t.

From an on-field perspective, Wilson is becoming more and more of a risk by the day. The elbow? It’s creaky. The pitching ratios? They continue to dwindle. The money? Eek, the money. Wilson is due $8.5+ this season and will soon be up for even more money. Given the notoriously nasty and franchise un-friendly financial market for big name closers, committing another large contract to Brian Wilson after this upcoming season is, to put it lightly, beyond a huge risk.

As Melissa reported earlier this morning, the Giants are apparently in the market to cut salary out of their bullpen and there’s no bigger financial burden than Wilson’s current (and soon to be upcoming) deal.

Generally, we all love Wilson the person – so it’s tough to say he’s the one who needs to moved. He’s been at the front of so many iconic San Francisco Giant memories. He’s a marketing machine – outside of Tim Lincecum, he’s the face of the Giants. Saying goodbye just doesn’t seem logical, but, that’s thinking with the heart – not the on-field play.

Sad as it is to say, closers come and go. That’s not to say that just any ‘ol pitcher can be a closer – the successful ones, they’re a different breed, but they’re the running backs of the MLB. You have your Emmit Smith’s, your Barry Sanders in guys like Trevor Hoffman and Mariano Rivera but you also have guys that come in and run wild due to injury and end up becoming the star running back until the next injury. It’s a vicious cycle but one that takes place multiple times a season in the NFL and it’s no different with closers in the MLB.

For the Giants, Sergio Romo is more than capable of closing – especially at the convince of saving nearly 10 million dollars.

But, like most other rumors – this isn’t much more than a pipe dream. Teams around the league know of Wilson’s risk, both on-field and financially. Expecting to get any player of significance is wishful thinking, so moving him would be nothing more than a salary dump at this point – essentially releasing him, and of course, that’s not a smart move. But, bringing back Wilson on an even heftier deal than he currently has can’t be an option for the Giants – so what do you do if you’re Sabean? Certainly a tough, heart grinding call. One I’m glad I don’t have to make a decision on.