Giants' Roster Shaping up for Spring

After the Giants inked Bengie Molina to a 1-year, $4.5 million dollar deal last week to shore up their starting catching spot, the Giants appear to have their roster set as Spring Training begins in just a few short weeks.

The one piece of news that surfaced last week, and something that could very well impact the potential opening day lineup, was that Freddy Sanchez recently went under the knife in order to clean out his shoulder. The surgery will apparently keep the 2-time all-star and former batting champion out for all of spring training and could cause him to start the regular season on the DL. The Giants are counting on Sanchez to be a huge part of their offense and anchor the top part of their order, especially since they don't have a true leadoff man, so they're going to be very cautious with his rehab. This is where that re-signing of Juan Uribe pays off so big. Instead of having to re-work their whole lineup plan and move Mark DeRosa from left field to second base, they can simply insert Uribe and keep the rest of the lineup as planned. DeRosa could get also get some looks at second, but I think the Giants are going to want to keep him in the outfield as much as possible, as they don't have a ton of outfield depth at the moment. They could have had Xavier Nady, who in my mind would have fit in perfectly with the Giants, at around $4 million for 2010 if they wanted, as he just signed a 1-year, $3.3 million deal with the Cubs. Don't be surprised to see him go to Wrigley and put up a big year, like .300, 25 homers and 90+ RBI, .850+ OPS big.

Since it appears that Sabean is no longer considering positional talent on the free agent market, it appears the only potential add for Giants from here on out would be a reliever or 2, or possibly a fifth starter. I believe Sabean as at a point in where he's not really pursuing anyone, but is probably monitoring a few guys (Chan Ho Park, Kiko Calero?) just in case they fail to find an employer in the next few weeks. I was kind of hoping the Giants would add a high-profile type starter to allow them to ease Madison Bumgarner into the mix like they're doing with Posey, but after seeing the contract the A's just singed Ben Sheets to, (1 year, $10 million guaranteed) I don't think they'd get anyone to fit their budget. Erik Bedard is still out there, but since Sheets got $10 million without pitching in 2009, Bedard is going to want a nice sum of money too, and he actually threw in 2009 and threw very well (for the parts when he was healthy). If the Giants surprise though like they did with Molina, and pull a rabbit out of their hat, imagine the potential of a Lincecum-Bedard-Cain-Sanchez-Zito fivesome? I think they'd be your NL West favorites, and with that staff, they could be the class of a wide open National League.

GBB Note: I was originally planning to do our top-prospect evaluation post today, but I've recently injured my thumb and currently have it in a splint. Unfortunately I can't type for as long as that post will take me at the moment, but I fully intend to have that up in our next post on Thursday, so be on the lookout for that.