Lots of Talk, Little Action at the Meetings

The Winter Meetings came and went with very little action to speak of on the Giants' front. A ton of talk and rumors, but no moves materialized. The Giants did however offer Pedro Feliz arbitration and unless he gets his coveted 3 year offer from some team, it looks like he will accept arbitration and return to the Giants for yet another season. The Giants just can't seem to get rid of this guy. Now they have filled up a spot where they had a chance to improve at. Without having 3rd base as an option to acquire a bat, it also increases the chances of a Tim Lincecum/Alex Rios trade (which is still on the table) or a Noah Lowry/Hideki Matsui trade. This offseason is slowly getting worse as it moves along. At this point, Sabean should just hold onto his pieces and try his best to fix the bullpen. They're building around their starting pitching and the best way they can help that this winter is to add arms to the bullpen. Remember all those games that Matt Cain ended up losing or getting no decisions for because of the faulty bullpen? Rebuilding the offense isn't a realistic possibility this winter, but fixing the bullpen is. Why Sabean constantly continues to avoid fixing it is beyond me. There are still some decent relievers available who could come in and be upgrades. Jeremy Affeldt, Luis Vizcaino, Eric Gagne, Shawn Chacon and Ron Mahay are guys that could help this team. I'd take Affeldt and Vizcaino over Taschner and Chulk in a heartbeat.

I was just watching some extended video of Kosuke Fukudome for the first time and I wouldn't be opposed to see Sabean push hard after him. I didn't want to see the Giants dip too heavily into free agency this winter, but Fukudome is starting to make some sense. He's got lightning-quick bat speed, and although he's not real big, it's easy to see how he generates power. He's not going to be as dominant of a hitter in America that he was in Japan, but in AT&T, with his style of game, could still do well in the extra base hit department. I could see him hitting well over .300 with 20 homers and 40-50 doubles while providing gold glove caliber defense in right. He also appears to be a real patient hitter, and hits well to all fields. Some scouts say he will turn out similar to Aki Iwamura from the Devil Rays, who showed good contact but very little power in his first season in the US. He reminds me a little more of Hideki Matsui because of his bat speed, plus he's bigger and stronger than Iwamura. The Giants were said to be one of the top 3 or 4 teams in pursuit of Fukudome during the week in Nashville. If they could get him for a 3 year $35-40 million deal, it might not be that bad of a risk. It would beat trading away one of the franchises' cornerstone arms for a bat. He and Mike Lamb are the only free agent position players who I'd consider signing at this point. I'd look to Lamb only as a fallback if Feliz declines and they can't pull off a deal for a guy like Joe Crede or Edwin Encarnacion.