Sabean discusses need for relief help

NEW YORK — Giants executive vice president of baseball operations Brian Sabean affirmed that the team is striving to acquire a reliever by the Aug. 1 non-waiver Trade Deadline who will upgrade the bullpen significantly, not just incrementally.

“I don’t know how things are going to shake out,” Sabean said.

And that’s due partly to uncertainties involving which players are actually available or clubs that fit as trading partners.

But Sabean expressed a preference for obtaining a high-volume strikeout reliever. Moreover, unlike previous years, Sabean didn’t rule out trading players currently on the active Major League roster. Nor will he refuse to consider acquiring a player who’s eligible for free agency after this season.

Most of all, the Giants want somebody good.

“The real dilemma is how you upgrade,” Sabean said. “It has to be meaningful and it can’t just be a body.”

He also said, “It’s not just going to be the average Joe coming in here. We’re thinking it’s going to be a meaningful piece.”

So maybe the stale rumors regarding San Francisco’s interest in Yankees lefty reliever Andrew Miller aren’t that ridiculous. The Giants could get a better look at Miller during their three-game Interleague series against the Yanks starting Friday.

Phillies closer Jeanmar Gomez is said to be another possibility, and the Brewers have a perceived excess of available pitching that includes relievers Jeremy Jeffress and Will Smith.

Whoever the Giants get, if they get anyone, could help their bullpen become more strikeout-oriented. They won their three World Series by relying on strike-throwers such as Sergio …

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