CONGRATULATIONS. We successfully completed the first stage of trade deadline analysis — communal hand-wringing and anguish management.

The consensus seems to be that Ryan Garko and Freddy Sanchez address areas of need for the Giants (while leaving others unaddressed), and that Scott Barnes and Tim Alderson represent the high cost of doing a deal (while reserving the option to hold GM Brian Sabean personally responsible if either turns out to be the next Three Finger Brown).
The Giants, however, didn’t make their trades in a vacuum. All around them teams were wheeling and dealing, shoring up and tearing down, offloading ballast and sucking up salary. Now that the dust has settled, we can bring Sabean’s work into focus.
See, it’s not enough that his trades improve the Giants. To have their desired effect, they need to improve the Giants more than the Giants’ rivals for a postseason berth improved themselves. Let’s start with an easy one:
Los Angeles Dodgers. Having established themselves as the class of the National League West, the Dodgers didn’t need to do much. They did it anyway, acquiring Baltimore closer George Sherrill. Though Sherrill’s numbers compare favorably to Dodgers closer Jonathan Broxton, he’ll be used as a set-up guy, with special emphasis on lefty-lefty matchups. Nice luxury.
What it means to the Giants: Since there’s no way the Dodgers get caught from behind, nothing. OK, make that very little, since Sherrill could impact the nine Giants-Dodgers games left on the schedule.
Colorado Rockies. The Giants’ closest pursuers in the wild-card race over the past month, the Rocks acquired a pair of relievers — Rafael Betancourt from Cleveland, and Joe Beimel from Washington. Betancourt, who has cut his ERA nearly in half (to 3.24) over the past two months, will be Huston Street’s setup man. Beimel has lost five games and blown five saves (then again, who on the Nationals hasn’t?), but his splits against lefties are decent.
What it means to the Giants: Given that Colorado’s bullpen had the second-worst ERA in the National League, the Rockies did almost as well this week as the Giants.
St. Louis Cardinals. Some team is going to lose out in the NL Central. The Giants had better hope it’s not the Cardinals. Having acquired the potent bat of Mark DeRosa in late June, they got busy in the final 10 days of July. First they pried shortstop Julio Lugo from Boston, giving them a 100-point OPS improvement over Brendan Ryan. Then they won the Matt Holliday sweepstakes, giving them a thunderous bat to put behind the great and powerful Albert Pujols. Both Lugo (.393 in his first six games with the Cards) and Holliday (.520 — yes, you read that right — in his first seven games) hit the ground, um, hitting in St. Louis.
What it means to the Giants: Bad news. It’s hard to imagine them running win for win down the stretch with a team this deep and dangerous.
Chicago Cubs. Their only move was to pluck pitchers John Grabow and Tom Gorzelanny from the Pittsburgh Pirates estate sale. Neither mitigates the health concerns surrounding starters Ryan Dempster (shelled Tuesday in his return from a broken toe) and Ted Lilly (sidelined by a sore shoulder and arthroscopic knee surgery).
What it means to the Giants: They can take these guys.
Florida Marlins. They traded a hot-shot pitching prospect for first baseman Nick Johnson, who can be a free agent at season’s end.
What it means to the Giants: They can take these guys, too.
Atlanta Braves, Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers. Three teams having trouble keeping up made just one trade of note between them, with the Braves swapping one first baseman (Casey Kotchman) for another (Adam LaRoche).
What it means to the Giants: They can take all these guys with one Sanchez tied behind their backs.