Sabean Trades on Creating Giant Impact

Maybe Brian Sabean is the real sheriff in the National League West. He certainly isn’t afraid to pull the trigger.

The San Francisco Giants’ general manager has made major July trades in each of the last three years.

In 1997 it was the nine-player blockbuster in which he acquired Wilson Alvarez, Roberto Hernandez and Danny Darwin from the Chicago White Sox as the Giants went on to win the West.

Last year, he sent Darryl Hamilton to the Colorado Rockies for Ellis Burks, improving the offense as the Giants rallied to force a one-game playoff with the Chicago Cubs for the National League wild-card berth.

And on Saturday, he sent pitching prospects Jason Grilli and Nate Bump to the Florida Marlins for pitcher Livan Hernandez, who hasn’t displayed his 1997 World Series form but 1) provides a measure of cost control since he is signed through next year and not eligible for arbitration until 2001 and 2) helps lower the age of a San Francisco rotation that includes Russ Ortiz, 25, Shawn Estes, 26, and Hernandez, 24--with more young arms to come.

Sources say the Giants will soon recall Joe Nathan, 24, drafted as a shortstop in 1994 and pitching lights out in the Pacific Coast League.

The Giants, battling with Arizona and San Diego for first place, have put a premium on winning this year, looking to gain momentum and influence both fans and potential free agents as they move into their new park next year.

Grilli and Bump were the Giants’ first-round draft choices in 1998 and ’97 and are among four No. 1 selections the aggressive Sabean has traded in the last three years. Joe Fontenot went to Florida in a 1997 deal for closer Robb Nen, and Dante Powell was traded to Arizona for reliever Alan Embree in November.

Sabean, however, got two No. 1s back as compensation from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays when that team signed Alvarez and Hernandez as free agents after the ’97 season, and he simply hasn’t hesitated to take a series of calculated and often bold risks despite midmarket financial restrictions and potential damage to the farm system.

San Diego General Manager Kevin Towers, who seldom misses a chance to fire a shot or two at the self-proclaimed L.A. sheriff, Kevin Malone, seemed to do it again indirectly earlier in the week when he complimented the Giants on their style even before the Hernandez acquisition.

“The Giants do a lot with very little,” he said. “They’re humble. They don’t toot their own horn. They just go out and beat people. That’s the way to do it.”

Dysfunctional? The Dodgers and Angels have gone beyond that. They are coming apart at the seams. The barrage of internal sniping has left both the Dodgers and Angels on the edge of the abyss.

Then there’s the shocking decision by Raul Mondesi to disavow his team’s deteriorating play by choosing to sit in the bullpen rather than the dugout during the fifth inning of Friday night’s loss in Arizona.

If Mondesi is not disciplined for basically snubbing his nose at teammates and saying he doesn’t want to be part of their effort, it will be a shocking dereliction of responsibility by Malone and Davey Johnson, whose hands are not devoid of blood in this wounded season.

If the Angels attempt to correct the current clubhouse madness with a midseason fire sale when there is little to get in return, it will only serve to compound the widespread dissension that would best be sorted out by cooler heads during the off-season.

It’s a Southern California embarrassment, plain and simple.