PHOENIX — Freddy Sanchez will require surgery after the season to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee, making it almost automatic that the Giants, 5-2 winners over Arizona on Wednesday night, will decline their $8.1 million option on the two-time All-Star second baseman.

The club is expected to talk to Sanchez about a two-year contract at a lower figure, but general manager Brian Sabean couldn’t comment on how Sanchez fits in the team’s future. The GM still doesn’t know if his option will be picked up, either.
“That’s even tough for me to answer, given “. . . until we see what happens with the front office and the manager,” said Sabean, prior to Thursday’s victory at Chase Field.
Sabean is thought to be safe, unless managing partner Bill Neukom is a world-class poker player. All signs have pointed to an extreme appreciation for Sabean’s efforts to rebuild the farm system. And the Giants clinched a winning record with Thursday night’s victory, too.
But the July 31 trade deadline isn’t looking like Sabean’s finest moment, as underscored by Sanchez’s latest injury. Sanchez has played in just 25 of 50 games since the club acquired him from the Pittsburgh Pirates, and Ryan Garko, acquired from the Cleveland Indians, has become buried on the depth chart, too.
Neither acquisition had the impact that Sabean envisioned. And now, after an MRI exam showed more tearing in Sanchez’s left knee, it’s fair to ask whether the Giants purchased damaged goods when they sent pitching prospect Tim Alderson to the Pirates.
Sanchez missed all three games in a series at San Francisco prior to the trade because of left knee soreness. And the trade cost the Giants almost $4 million, accounting for the remainder of Sanchez’s salary and the $1.29 million bonus they gave Alderson as a first-round pick in 2007.
But Sabean did not express regret over the deal.
“I know at the time we made the trade everybody was all-in, including the medical team, that we could keep him on the field,” Sabean said. “The bigger thing with Freddy is he hasn’t been on the field because of other things, including the left shoulder. He didn’t have the chance to be out there on a regular basis.”
Sabean called Sanchez’s injury Monday night, when he caught a spike while catching a throw, “a freak thing.”
There is still an excellent chance Sanchez will return on a multiyear contract. Few players do well on the free-agent market while coming off surgery, and Sabean didn’t acquire Sanchez to be a half-season rental.
“You can’t deny that Freddy, when he’s been out there, has been every bit a No.2 hitter that we didn’t have, and an All-Star second baseman,” Sabean said.
The Giants’ biggest midseason boost might have been the decision to put Juan Uribe in the everyday lineup.
Uribe hit a run-scoring double in the second inning and blasted a two-run home run in the sixth off Arizona’s Kevin Mulvey as the Giants won their 82nd game. Pablo Sandoval had drawn walks ahead of Uribe’s hits.
The Giants managed to split their six-game road trip even though a starting pitcher hadn’t completed five innings before Thursday. Jonathan Sanchez broke that streak, lasting into the sixth while striking out nine.
The Giants are four games out in the wild-card standings with 10 to play, picking up ground with the Colorado Rockies’ loss. The Atlanta Braves also are four out.
Giants manager Bruce Bochy didn’t rule out Freddy Sanchez playing again this season, so long as the club remained in contention.
“Stranger things have happened,” Bochy said. “The odds are against us, we know it, but it’s been done before. If we get knocked out here, we will shut him down.”