There is no easy way to say this, so I’ll just come right out and say it. Your reigning, defending World Series champion San Francisco Giants absolutely suck right now and any light that may have been at the end of this tunnel is getting dimmer by the day.

The issues that have contributed to the general suckiness are abundant, but perhaps most glaring is the sudden and dramatic decline of the Giants starting pitchers who have delivered an MLB-worst 22 quality starts so far in 2013. With Madison Bumgarner the only Giants starter with an ERA under 4.00 and Bruce Bochy grasping at straws to find a replacement for an injured Ryan Vogelsong, what once was the Giants’ greatest strength has quickly become their Achilles heel.

This of course begs the question, should the Giants and Brian Sabean be looking to make a trade for a starting pitcher and if so, should that starting pitcher’s name be Cliff Lee?

Lee, as you are undoubtedly aware, is one of the best pitchers in baseball and would be a fantastic addition to any rotation. The question is whether or not Sabean would be, or should be, willing to part with the pieces necessary to get a deal done. Also, would the Phillies even consider trading their ace. Let’s discuss, shall we?

First off, let me say that I did not just pull Lee’s name from a hat containing the names of quality starting pitchers across the league. The idea of Lee being in play for the Giants at the trade deadline is one that has been suggested by several reporters who cover both teams, most notably CSN Bay Area’s Andrew Baggarly.

Lee makes sense for the Giants for one big reason beyond the obvious fact that he would drastically improve the rotation, and that is that he is under contract through 2015 with an option for 2016. Lee’s contract however is quite large as he is owed $25 million in 2014 and 2015, and $27.5 million in 2016 should that option be exercised. That could actually work in the Giants favor provided that a) they are willing to take on that kind of money and b) the Phillies are in fact looking to cut payroll as has been reported.

The Phillies are currently one game under .500 in a division boasting two of the best teams in the NL in the Braves and Nationals. They have an aging, oft-injured roster of big name talent, none of which appear likely to regain their All-Star form any time soon. They are sitting on several awful contracts for said players and currently have one of the weakest farm systems in all of baseball. If ever there was a time to hit the reset button on a team in decline, that time has come for the Phillies.

Great, so it makes sense for Philly to get what they can for their most attractive assets, but does it make sense for the Giants to part with the kind of impact prospects that it would almost certainly take to land a pitcher of Lee’s caliber?

Recent history would suggest that Sabean and company may want to think twice about raiding an already sagging farm system in order to make a deal. How can anyone forget that just two years ago Sabean traded away one of the top prospects in baseball, Zack Wheeler, for Carlos Beltran in a deal that ultimately did not help the Giants get into the playoffs. When Beltran signed with St. Louis that off-season, it made a trade that made at least some sense at the time into an absolute disaster for the Giants. Wheeler is close to being big league ready and it’s only a matter of time before the Mets call him up and boast a serious 1-2 punch with emerging ace Matt Harvey. Looking at it now, you could very easily argue that I would not be writing this piece if Wheeler was still Giants property, but I digress.

With Lee under contract for at least two more years, it certainly changes the potential for a trade to blow up in the Giants’ face as the Wheeler/Beltran trade did. So what would it take to get Lee from the Phillies? My gut tells me that any deal involving Lee would have to include the Giants top pitching prospect (again), Kyle Crick. If that is indeed the case, it’s a deal-breaker for me. Yes, I want to see the Giants win and win often, but if we’ve learned anything from two championships in three years it’s that growing your own players is the way forward and relying on rentals from other teams is a poor long term strategy.

Certainly the Giants have benefited from adding a Cody Ross here and a Marco Scutaro there, but the backbone of this team is the homegrown guys. Buster Posey, Matt Cain and Madison Bumgarner are the primary reasons why this Giants team should contend in the NL West for years to come, and Crick has chance to be a major part of those contending teams.

Now, if the Phillies would be willing to listen to an offer built around the Giants’ second-best pitching prospect, Clayton Blackburn, I could be swayed. Reports on Blackburn indicate that while he is very good, the potential ace upside is not there as it is with Crick. Again it’s a guessing game in terms of what the Philles’ plan is moving forward, but a package of Blackburn, right handed pitcher Martin Acosta and second baseman Joe Panik could make sense. A trade like that would provide Philly with solid, young options to slide in behind Cole Hamels and their own top prospect, Jesse Biddle, and provide them a possible replacement for Chase Utley who can’t seem to stay off the DL for very long and whose contract is up at the end of the year.

Ultimately there are a lot of things to consider for both sides when it comes to a deal of this magnitude, but for the Giants it comes down the price tag and whether or not they are willing to pay. I for one would be ok with seeing the Giants stand relatively pat and hope that the pitching comes around. But if we know Brian Sabean we know how much he likes to win now and it would not shock me if he decides to call Phillies GM Ruben Amaro, Jr. to at least kick the tires on Lee.