Giants looking to trade Kevin Frandsen

Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that “the Giants have made it known widely throughout baseball that they are willing to trade infielder Kevin Frandsen.” According to Schulman the Giants recently showcased Frandsen at shortstop for any interested teams because Matt Downs has passed him on their infield depth chart, but few people seem to think the 28-year-old can still handle the position defensively after a torn Achilles’ tendon caused him to miss all of 2008. He had a solid bounce-back season at Triple-A, batting .295/.352/.438 with 13 homers in 110 games, but went just 7-for-50 (.140) with the Giants and is a career .240/.304/.341 hitter in 453 plate appearances as a big leaguer. Frandsen’s track record suggests he’s better than that, but his bat is likely at most a tick above utility man-caliber and as strictly a second baseman his glove may not even be that good.