The 2010 Major League Baseball trade deadline is quickly approaching with the deadline being its customary date of July 31st on a yearly basis.

I will try and tackle every Major League team as the deadline approaches to see if they will be buyers, sellers or stick to their current roster.

I will be basing my assumptions on the direction the team is going, their record as of the date I post the article, possible roster injuries and so on and so forth.

I will provide the information about each team by division.

I began with the National League East’s Atlanta Braves, New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, Florida Marlins & Washington Nationals.

I continued with a look at the NL Central’s Cincinnati Reds, St.Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers, Houston Astros and Pittsburgh Pirates.

Last week I moved onto the NL West with a look at the San Diego Padres, Colorado Rockies & Los Angeles Dodgers.

Last June I took a look at the Arizona Diamondbacks prior to their firings of general manager Josh Byrnes & AJ Hinch

Today I will conclude my trade deadline preview of the NL West and the National League as a whole with a look at the San Francisco Giants.

Coming into play today the Giants sit third in the NL West with a record of 50-42, four and a half games behind the division leading Padres.

In 2009, the Giants finished four games behind the wild card Rockies for a playoff spot despite making deals for offense at the trade deadline.

In 2010, the Giants field another spectacular starting pitching staff with added offensive punch that will hopefully bring them back to the playoffs for the first time since 2003.

The team added Mark DeRosa, Aubrey Huff, Todd Wellemeyer, Guillermo Mota, Denny Bautista & Santiago Casilla via free agency prior to the season and since have added Pat Burrell (signed to a minor league free agent deal after being released by Tampa Bay) & Chris Ray (added via Bengie Molina trade with Texas Rangers) to their squad throughout the season.

The Giants also brought up the likes of top farm system prospect pitcher Madison Bumgarner (made 2010 debut June 26th against the Boston Red Sox) & catcher Buster Posey (made 2010 debut May 29th against Diamondbacks) to solidify an already productive team.

The Giants feature one of the best pitching staffs in all of baseball with ace and two time NL Cy Young award winner Tim Lincecum (10-4, 2.94ERA) leading the way along with Matt Cain (7-8, 3.30ERA), Barry Zito (8-4, 3.51ERA), Jonathan Sanchez (7-6, 3.42ERA) & Bumgarner (2-2, 2.57ERA). Wellemeyer also made eleven starts for the team, but is currently on the 15-day disabled list with a right quadriceps strain.

The Giants own the third best rotation ERA in the NL at 3.52, behind the Padres & St.Louis Cardinals.

The team also features the NL’s second best bullpen ERA at 3.24. The bullpen is anchored by right-handed closer Brian Wilson (2-1, 2.03ERA, 25SV in 27SVO) and currently features right-handers Bautista (2-0, 2.86ERA), Casilla (2-2, 2.50ERA), new comer Joe Martinez (0-1, 4.00ERA), Mota (0-3, 3.12ERA), Ray (2-0, 3.46ERA), Sergio Romo (2-3, 2.21ERA) & the lone lefty Jeremy Affeldt (2-3, 4.41ERA).

Pitching is an obvious strength for the team as it was in 2009, but the Giants have also improved offensively.

The team has improved in team batting average (.257 to end 2009, .262 thus far in 2010) and is on pace to beat last season’s totals in almost every offensive category including runs (657 scored in all of 2009, 405 runs scored thus far in 2010), hits (1411 in 2009, 806 thus far in 2010), home runs (122 in 2009, 84 thus far in 2010), RBI’s (612 in 2009, 382 thus far in 2010), doubles (275 in 2009, 162 thus far in 2010), total bases (2138 in 2009, 1268 thus far in 2010), on base percentage (.309 in 2009, .327 thus far in 2010) and slugging percentage (.389 in 2009, .407 thus far in 2010).

Despite all the added offense the team still may need more offense to overcome their tough inter-division counterparts.

The Giants have witnessed the struggles of high priced outfielder Aaron Rowand, who is in the third year of a five-year, $60 million contract. Rowand is hitting just .239 with 8HR & 27RBI across 247 at-bats in 69 games played.

Shortstop Edgar Renteria, another high priced player (second year of a two year deal worth $18.5 million with a club option for 2011 worth $10.5 million) has put up next to no production with only one home run and thirteen runs batted in across 44 games played and last season’s big bopper in the Giants line-up Pablo Sandoval is not producing at his expected high rate hitting .271 with 6HR & 38RBI.

The squad has seen productive seasons from Juan Uribe (.253AVG, 12HR, 51RBI) & Huff (.302, 17HR, 54RBI), while the mid-season addition of Burrell (.246, 7HR, 25RBI) has been a decent pick-up considering he only signed a minor-league deal.

However, the current offense of the Giants line-up, although improved, may not be enough come the second half of the season, so a move at the trade deadline may be in order.

The Giants have been widely reported as having interest in the Brewers Corey Hart, who is having an impressive season. Hart could bring a big bat to the pitcher friendly AT&T Park and could surely play decent right field defense for the team even with the wide open outfield of the ball park.

Corey Hart is high on the Giants wish list.

The Brewers reportedly want a lot in return for Hart, including starting pitching. Jonathan Sanchez has been one name of interest to the Brewers and the Giants also possess Bumgarner, right-handed prospect Zach Wheeler and left-hander Dan Runzier. It is doubtful the Giants would move Bumgarner, especially after moving promising pitching prospect Tim Alderson last season to acquire second baseman Freddy Sanchez from the Pirates, but a package of players headlined by Sanchez or Wheeler might interest the Brewers enough to trade Hart.

The Giants might need to act quickly as the division rival Padres have also shown interest in Hart and may nab him before San Francisco has the chance.

If a deal cannot be worked out for Hart or if he is no longer available on the trading block the Giants have other hard hitting outfield options such as the Kansas City Royals Jose Guillen (.275, 15HR, 54RBI) or Toronto Blue Jays Jose Bautista (.233, 25HR, 58RBI).

The Giants need and want offense as the trade deadline approaches and if they can add an impact bat to their line-up in the second half they will surely be able to fight it out with the Padres, Dodgers & Rockies in the NL West playoff race.

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