Thursday, December 10, 2009
So Many Rumors, So Little Time!
The Giants have been linked to seemingly every crappy free agent the past couple of days as the Winter Meetings have raged on, but absolutely nothing has gone through, and the Giants as of right now have made no major transactions. Judging from the caliber of player they've supposedly been coveting, perhaps we should be thankful for that fact. Here is a quick rundown of some of the more horrific possibilities that have been thrown out there.
-Miguel Olivo. The Giants "need" a catcher, so why not sign Bengie Molina's clone? On the plus side, he's got a cannon arm and is solid defensively. On the down side...everything else. A prime candidate to hit more home runs than he takes walks, and that's not a good thing. If the Giants think one year of Olivo is better than starting Posey early, methinks it's a sign that they don't know what they're doing.
-Jose Molina. I'm hoping one of the Giants' beat writers just had too much to drink one day and threw this out there just to have some fun with us. Cruel bastards. I mean, why on Earth would any team be interested in giving a major league deal to one of the worst players you'll ever see grace a baseball field?
-Mark Derosa. This isn't horrible, per se, but still unneccessary. Derosa plays six positions, has some power, and is a decent all-around hitter, which is all well and good. It's just that the 20+ home runs he hit in each of the past two seasons might up his price to where he's asking for a multi-year deal. At 34, he's the type of guy who suddenly gets old and leaves you wondering what the hell you're paying for, kind of like Aaron Rowand. No thanks.
-Scott Podsednik. Just a perfect Brian Sabean player. Short, scrappy, fast, and carrying a "gamer" reputation that masks the fact the he really sucks. In a sane world, signing him wouldn't make any sense just from a roster standpoint, but this is the Giants we're talking about. If Podsednik is brought in, it's a sign that this offseason has gone off the rails.
-Kevin Kouzmanoff. The rumor had the Giants offering Kevin Frandsen and Fred Lewis for the Kouz, but apparently the Pads turned it down. Kouzmanoff is a bad fielding, hacktastic slugger who would push Pablo Sandoval to first base, thus making him less of an asset. He's probably not worth bothering with. Lewis should be the everyday left fielder, but the Giants hate him, and the same goes for Frandsen.
-Adrian Beltre. The Giants aren't going after him, but this was my favorite little story from the Winter Meetings. In response to Sabean's stated lack of interest in Beltre, agent Scott Boras griped that the Giants should be interested in his client since they need the offense. Sabean came back by saying that if Boras is so smart, perhaps he should run his own team. The two then got into an effeminate slap-fight. Sabean should have told Boras that the fact that the Giants need offense is exactly why they aren't going after Beltre.
-Nick Johnson. He's still being linked to the Giants on a daily basis. He's the only free agent option here that makes sense, although his market value is still impossible to figure out. It looks like Ryan Garko is almost certainly going to be non-tendered, so an NJ signing definitely looks like a distinct possibility, and I'd be all for it.
-Miguel Olivo. The Giants "need" a catcher, so why not sign Bengie Molina's clone? On the plus side, he's got a cannon arm and is solid defensively. On the down side...everything else. A prime candidate to hit more home runs than he takes walks, and that's not a good thing. If the Giants think one year of Olivo is better than starting Posey early, methinks it's a sign that they don't know what they're doing.
-Jose Molina. I'm hoping one of the Giants' beat writers just had too much to drink one day and threw this out there just to have some fun with us. Cruel bastards. I mean, why on Earth would any team be interested in giving a major league deal to one of the worst players you'll ever see grace a baseball field?
-Mark Derosa. This isn't horrible, per se, but still unneccessary. Derosa plays six positions, has some power, and is a decent all-around hitter, which is all well and good. It's just that the 20+ home runs he hit in each of the past two seasons might up his price to where he's asking for a multi-year deal. At 34, he's the type of guy who suddenly gets old and leaves you wondering what the hell you're paying for, kind of like Aaron Rowand. No thanks.
-Scott Podsednik. Just a perfect Brian Sabean player. Short, scrappy, fast, and carrying a "gamer" reputation that masks the fact the he really sucks. In a sane world, signing him wouldn't make any sense just from a roster standpoint, but this is the Giants we're talking about. If Podsednik is brought in, it's a sign that this offseason has gone off the rails.
-Kevin Kouzmanoff. The rumor had the Giants offering Kevin Frandsen and Fred Lewis for the Kouz, but apparently the Pads turned it down. Kouzmanoff is a bad fielding, hacktastic slugger who would push Pablo Sandoval to first base, thus making him less of an asset. He's probably not worth bothering with. Lewis should be the everyday left fielder, but the Giants hate him, and the same goes for Frandsen.
-Adrian Beltre. The Giants aren't going after him, but this was my favorite little story from the Winter Meetings. In response to Sabean's stated lack of interest in Beltre, agent Scott Boras griped that the Giants should be interested in his client since they need the offense. Sabean came back by saying that if Boras is so smart, perhaps he should run his own team. The two then got into an effeminate slap-fight. Sabean should have told Boras that the fact that the Giants need offense is exactly why they aren't going after Beltre.
-Nick Johnson. He's still being linked to the Giants on a daily basis. He's the only free agent option here that makes sense, although his market value is still impossible to figure out. It looks like Ryan Garko is almost certainly going to be non-tendered, so an NJ signing definitely looks like a distinct possibility, and I'd be all for it.
