The Phillies, Giants, and a Cody Asche trade

Guys, I'm about to talk about a trade possibility involving the Phillies that has nothing to do with Cole Hamels, Jonathan Papelbon, Chase Utley or Ryan Howard.

I know, sit down. Get something cold to drink.

The San Francisco Giants are in the market for an upgrade at third base, according to MLB Daily Dish, which makes sense given they have Casey McGehee manning the hot corner for them.

Sure, he was the NL Comeback Player of the Year last year, but no one really expected him to back that up with another above average season. And so far, those prognostications have largely come true. Through 77 plate appearances McGehee is hitting .181/.234/.264 with one home run and four extra-base hits total.

So yeah, San Francisco is looking for something else.

As noted by Scott Gelman in his piece, Giants vice president Brian Sabean has been scouting the Mets, who will have a surplus of infielders once David Wright returns from the disabled list, most notably Daniel Murphy. He also mentions the Giants could look to add another starting pitcher, as they try to live without Jake Peavy and Matt Cain.

So if the San Francisco is looking at the Mets, why not the Phillies?

Cody Asche got off to a hot start, going .500/.571/.667 through the first eight games (68 PAs). However, since April 16, Asche has hit .169/.191/.262 with one double, one triple and one home run. He is hitless in his last three games and overall is hitting .258/.302/.371 with two HRs this season.

Of course, Daniel Murphy has been no prize, either, hitting a much worse .219/.269/.354 with two HRs so far this year. Neither guy plays good defense, so if the Giants are considering adding Murphy, why not consider Asche?

The Phils do have another third baseman in the pipeline in Maikel Franco, although it's hard to believe they'd give up on him in favor of Asche, even if San Francisco did offer a better package for Franco. Franco is hitting .321/.351/.486 through 114 Triple-A plate appearances this year, and as Matt Winkleman noted today, Franco appears to be making headway on being less of a pull-dependent hitter.

And if the Giants wanted to swing a deal for a pitcher in addition to a third baseman, the Phils could offer Aaron Harang, who is off to a terrific start this year. He has a 2.35 ERA through his first six starts, with 29 strikeouts and 8 walks in 38.1 innings. He's also on a cheap, one-year, $5 million deal.

This idea may not make perfect sense, but neither does the Giants' apparent interest in the Mets. It seems to me, if the Giants are interested in what New York has to offer, perhaps they'd be interested in further gutting the Phillies.