68 days ’til Opening Day

There’s 68 days left until opening day. 68 is also the number of games Joe Nathan pitched in 2007. Again, that stat is completely meaningless, but it allows me to bring up one of the most lopsided trades of my lifetime.

On Nov. 14, 2003, San Francisco traded Joe Nathan, Francisco Liriano and Boof Bonser to Minnesota for A.J. Pierzynski.

Pierzynski stayed in San Francisco for only one year, and while it was a decent year for a catcher (.272/.319/.410), it certainly wasn’t great, and the Giants ended up missing the playoffs that season.

Meanwhile, Minnesota has had four quality seasons from Nathan as a closer so far who has put up ERAs of 1.62, 2.70, 1.58 and 1.88, pitching at least 68 innings each season. Liriano has only had one full season in Minnesota (2006), but it was a great one, as he had 144 strikeouts (only 32 walks) in 121.3 innings with an ERA of 2.16. Oh, and he’s only 24 this season. And Bonser hasn’t been good yet, but even without him, this deal is already lopsided in favor of the Twins.

And people wonder how the Giants haven’t made the playoffs since 2003.