MLB Trade Rumors with a pretty good one:
The Brewers asked the Giants for Jonathan Sanchez or Madison Bumgarner in exchange for Corey Hart, according to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter link). Giants GM Brian Sabean is understandably hesitant to deal either pitcher.
--snip--
Sanchez has a 3.47 ERA with 9.0 K/9 and 4.6 BB/9 this season. The Giants control the 27-year-old's rights through 2012. Baseball America ranked Bumgarner second among Giants prospects before the season (after Buster Posey). So far in 2010, the 20-year-old left-hander has started four games and posted a 2.57 ERA.
Yes. Understandably. You trade for Corey Hart only if you're trying to win, and removing Sanchez or Bumgarner makes it harder to win.
Granted, Hart might be more valuable than Sanchez and is probably more valuable than Bumgarner ... but general managers just don't like to trade one key piece just to get another. If the Giants trade one of their starters, who's going to fill in? Todd Wellemeyer? They already tried that. It didn't work. Joe Martinez? Well, sure. Unless there's a good reason why he's turned 27 and has started only six games in the majors.
And while it's certainly possible that I'm missing someone, it looks to me like Wellemeyer and Martinez are Nos. 6 and 7, with No. 8 somewhere in Class A, little but a gleam in Brian Sabean's imagination. Which brings up another impediment: If the Brewers can't have Sanchez or Bumgarner, they'll presumably want at least one super-hot pitching prospect. And with the possible exception of young Zach Wheeler (and his super-high walk rate), I'm not finding anybody who fits that description.
So maybe there's just not a good fit here.