As I said in my last post, I will be composing various mock lineups throughout the winter every couple of weeks or so. With it being so early in the off-season, it's very likely none of the additions I add to my list will be part of the team in '07, but you have to start somewhere.
Lineup:
1. CF Gary Mathews Jr.-( The Giants love Mathews and may overpay to get him in their outfield)
2. SS Omar Vizquel
3. 2B Ray Durham
4. LF Barry Bonds ( I can't picture him anywhere else now that Detroit and the Angels are out)
5. 3B Aubrey Huff ( 30 years old with 5 straight 20+ hr seasons, not much talk about Huff early)
6. 1B Wes Helms/Pat Burrell ( Burrell only if the Giants unload Benitez and even out the $)
7. RF Randy Winn
8. C Elizier Alfonzo (Sabean is not looking for starting catchers in the free agent market)
Rotation:
1. RHP Matt Cain
2. RHP Woody Williams (Bochy gets his "big game" pitcher to move north with him for a year)
3. RHP Matt Morris
4. LHP Noah Lowry
5. LHP Jonathon Sanchez
Bullpen:
CP Joe Borowski
LHP Mike Stanton
RHP David Weathers
RHP Kevin Corriea
RHP Brian Wilson
LHP Ray King
RHP Tim Worrell
Bench:
C Henry Blanco
IF Kevin Frandsen
IF Geoff Blum
OF Todd Linden
OF/1B Mark Sweeney
This team would probably cost about 10 million dollars more than the Giants want to spend, but they may be able to backload some contracts to make things work. The overall lineup would be younger, healthier and a little faster. The rotation would take a hit in losing Schmidt for Williams, but the bullpen would be improved drastically.
Lineup:
1. CF Gary Mathews Jr.-( The Giants love Mathews and may overpay to get him in their outfield)
2. SS Omar Vizquel
3. 2B Ray Durham
4. LF Barry Bonds ( I can't picture him anywhere else now that Detroit and the Angels are out)
5. 3B Aubrey Huff ( 30 years old with 5 straight 20+ hr seasons, not much talk about Huff early)
6. 1B Wes Helms/Pat Burrell ( Burrell only if the Giants unload Benitez and even out the $)
7. RF Randy Winn
8. C Elizier Alfonzo (Sabean is not looking for starting catchers in the free agent market)
Rotation:
1. RHP Matt Cain
2. RHP Woody Williams (Bochy gets his "big game" pitcher to move north with him for a year)
3. RHP Matt Morris
4. LHP Noah Lowry
5. LHP Jonathon Sanchez
Bullpen:
CP Joe Borowski
LHP Mike Stanton
RHP David Weathers
RHP Kevin Corriea
RHP Brian Wilson
LHP Ray King
RHP Tim Worrell
Bench:
C Henry Blanco
IF Kevin Frandsen
IF Geoff Blum
OF Todd Linden
OF/1B Mark Sweeney
This team would probably cost about 10 million dollars more than the Giants want to spend, but they may be able to backload some contracts to make things work. The overall lineup would be younger, healthier and a little faster. The rotation would take a hit in losing Schmidt for Williams, but the bullpen would be improved drastically.
Comments
1. I don't see them keeping Bonds AND Durham AND being able to sign Matthews Jr. (though a do think he would be a great addition to our team and Bochy managed him in S.D.)
2. There may be an outside chance that Tim Lincecum will be invited to Spring Training and he may have a leg up on Sanchez he would be moved back to the bullpen where he thrived
3. There is no way the Giants would be ignorant enough to pay Worrell for another year of being hurt/ineffective. Bullpen looks better and I like Borowski as closer although I'd question your thinking on Embree