The Giants are pleased with 23-year old righty swinging catcher Buster Posey. Posey has played in 48 games for the Giants this year and he is 66 of 178 (.371 avg, .986 OPS) with 28 runs scored, 8 homers and 33 RBIs. Posey’s excellent start allows the Giants a lot of flexibility at the trade deadline as they might not need a big bat anymore in the outfield. This might allow them to add to the bullpen which no one has really talked about yet.

The Giants have placed 28-year old switch hitting IF/OF Eugenio Velez on the 15-day disabled list with a concussion. He was hit in the head the other day while on the bench by a line drive off the bat of Pat Burrell. Velez has played in 21 games for the Giants this year and he is 9 of 46 (.196 avg, .644 OPS) with 7 runs scored, 2 homers and 8 RBIs. The Giants have called up 26-year old righty swinging infielder Ryan Rohlinger to replace Velez on the active roster. Rohlinger has played in 10 games for the Giants this year and he is 3 of 14 (.214 avg, .527 OPS) with 1 run scored and 1 RBI.

The Giants have placed 31-year old lefty reliever Jeremy Affeldt on the 15-day disabled list with a slight tear of his left oblique muscle. Affeldt has pitched in 37 games (0 starts) for the Giants this year and he is 2-3 with 3 saves, a 4.11 ERA and a 1.66 WHIP. The Giants don’t have a lefty reliever in the pen now with Affeldt and Runzler on the D.L. The Giants have recalled 27-year old righty reliever/starter Joe Martinez to replace Affeldt in the bullpen. Martinez has pitched in 3 games (1 start) for the Giants this year and he is 0-1 with a 4.00 ERA and a 1.89 WHIP.

I don’t think the Giants need to make huge changes heading into the trade deadline. But I would make three small deals that would help them in the last couple of months of the season. First off I would offer 28-year old switch hitting IF/OF Eugenio Velez and 26-year old lefty swinging 1B/OF John Bowker to the Cleveland Indians for outfielder Austin Kearns. I would then offer 26-year old outfielder Nate Schierholtz and 26-year old infielder Matt Downs to the A’s for Jack Cust. Kearns can play some CF and you could always platoon Kearns and Cust in RF which I would think would be a productive pairing. Finally I would offer 27-year old righty starter/reliever Joe Martinez to the Orioles for lefty reliever Mark Hendrickson. Adding Kearns, Cust and Hendrickson might not sound too sexy but they would make the Giants a better team.

26-year old righty swinging outfielder Tyler Graham has been solid in the minors so far this season. Graham has played in 67 games in AA+AAA-ball so far this year and he is 66 of 196 (.337 avg, .819 OPS) with 35 runs scored, 1 homer, 19 RBIs and 24 stolen bases. Despite his solid season Graham is behind quite a few players on the organizational depth chart. The Giants could still promote him when rosters expand September 1st as long as he continues to play well as they could use his speed down the stretch.