Posted by Gavin McCormick on Monday, July 6, 2009 at 8:08 pm

San Francisco GM Brian Sabean this year has ended his 0-for-everyone record in developing minor league position players. Sabean arrived in 1997, and not one Giant position prospect has had a positive impact on the franchise since Bill Mueller, who came up in 1996.

Obviously some of this history has to do with Sabean’s strategy of fitting veterans around Barry Bonds, which was successful through 2004. But the talent void remains the biggest black mark on Sabean’s tenure, more damning than the Nathan/Liriano/Bonzer-for Pierzynski trade or the Zito signing since it’s played out for more than a decade.

That disastrous record ends now, largely because of Pablo Sandoval, the best 2009 player yet to be named to an All-Star roster and the biggest offensive talent developed by the franchise since Matt Williams. But another candidate now grabbing playing time could also aid Sabean’s post-Bonds transformation into a stockpiler of youthful (non-pitching) talent.

Exhibit B is 25-year-old right fielder Nate Schierholtz – though even his (mis)usage shows the Giants’ stumbling ability to recognize and develop talent. Schierholtz posted minor league .OPS statistics ranging from .768 (in AA Connecticut as a 22-year-old in 2006) to .958 (last year in AAA Fresno), as well as numbers of .718 and .864 with the big club in 2007 (117 PAs) and 2008 (81 PAs).

But the Giants started last season with outfielders Dan Ortmeier, Rajaj Davis, and Fred Lewis, then called up John Bowker, Clay Timpner, and Brian Horwitz. This year, Ortmeier is at Colorado’s AAA franchise; Davis has a .643 OPS as an Oakland part-timer; Timpner and Horwitz are part-timers in Fresno; and Lewis has recently been relegated to the bench, primarily because of his appalling outfield play. (Bowker is tearing it up in Fresno.)

Now Schierholtz seems to have swum past that stellar six-pack and, since June 11, has started 18 of the Giants’ 23 games. In that stretch he’s slugged .530 and reached base at a .397 clip (OPS = .927), with 12 runs and 10 RBIs. The Giants have scored 87 runs in those 18 games, an average of 4.83, well ahead of their season average of 4.16 (12^th in the NL). The move has also improved the outfield defense significantly, with Randy Winn moving over to get the bulk of Lewis’ innings in left field.

Lewis, almost uniquely among current Giants, does have an ability to reach base via the walk. But his stone glove, as well as limited power (.440 slugging last year in 521 PAs, down to .382 in 233 PAs in 2009), makes him a liability the Giants can ill-afford.

With the speedy Andres Torres a capable fourth outfielder (.879 OPS in 69 PAs), it’s time to move Bowker back to the big club and, if you can’t package him, to send Lewis down to Fresno to regain confidence and learn defensive fundamentals. (Not that the Giants have shown any ability to develop those over the last decade, either.) Schierholtz has earned the right to be left alone.