I thought it was one of the funnier quotes I'd heard all offseason when I believe a Yahoo journalist described the Giants activity, or lack thereof, as them "twiddling their thumbs". Here we are, just days away from the calendar turning to 2012, and the Giants are the same team, add Angel Pagan and Melky Cabrera, they were in early November when they lost all their free agents.
Sabean said early on not to expect any big splash signings or any earth shattering moves, but they haven't even made little signing yet to help fill the smaller holes on this team. Why they don't have another infielder yet is beyond me, unless they have some plan to trade for one during Spring Training. Also, rumors surfaced right after Christmas that Cody Ross and the Rockies were nearing a deal that would bring the outfielder to Colorado. It makes sense on Cody's part, as he wants to play in a hitters park if he's going to sign a one-year deal and since the Giants don't seem to want him, he's got to weigh his options. My beef here is with Sabean. Once Beltran signed with St. Louis, Cody Ross should have become a priority again for the Giants. They need another outfielder and the best, most versatile player with the highest upside on this market now has become Cody Ross (Cespedes technically, but yeah right). Also, the Giants have seen him when he's healthy and hitting and although he may not be a #5 hitter they really need, when Cody's on he's an above average #6 hitter, and a rock-solid defender. Plus, you Colorado knows his situation, they know they can go bargain shopping with him because he wants to hit there. Maybe I see Ross as a more important piece than the rest, but if the Giants are really going to try and win with 2010's formula again, they're missing one key ingredient. Give Cody Ross a 1-year deal and be done with this outfield! If he signs for 1 year and something like $4.5 million in Colorado, I'm going to break whatever breaks me the news. As you can see, he's still viewed as having starters value, getting ranked 32 amongst all FA's this winter!
I mean sure, I'd rather have Cespedes or trade for Quentin or Upton, but lets get real here, if Sabean won't pony up $26 mill for Beltran after giving away his top prospect for him months prior, I highly doubt he tries another one of those star-vet-for-star-prospect for a long, long while. Again, the only time he should engage in those types of talks is if he knows before hand he can keep the acquired player for beyond a year or two. He ends up making two mistakes with Beltran because of that law of thinking. Not only did the Giants fail to make the playoffs with Beltran, the Giants failed to keep him beyond the 1/2 season after parting with Zach Wheeler when Beltran was only wanting 2 years. I guess I could just keep going on and on about it and wondering why, but it's almost the new year and it's time to start focusing on whats ahead. Fact of the matter is, Cabrera is a good player just coming into his prime. An all-star game in his future isn't out of the question and he ads to their young nucleus. Pagan is better than Torres, simple as that (check baseball cards for both). They're going to need Buster to give them 140 games somewhere, and Freddy Sanchez to do about the same, but otherwise, things could be a lot worse I guess. At least they didn't deal Cain for some irrelevant Yankee prospect and Nick Swisher, which they Yanks were begging for all Meetings long supposedly.
We want to get in one more post before the New Year, our final 2012 Roster Prediction post, before we hit the final month and a half of the offseason. The Giants are certain to make other moves, nothing on the large scale of course, but they need an infielder, another outfielder and it wouldn't hurt to invite another catcher to spring either.... Also, my newest fear as a player Sabean pursues that joins the list of Ryan Ludwick, if for no other reason he could get him dirt cheap, Raul Ibanez. Rather have Ludwick, but I'd take either as a backup at $1-2M (though AT&T would sap his power).
Sabean said early on not to expect any big splash signings or any earth shattering moves, but they haven't even made little signing yet to help fill the smaller holes on this team. Why they don't have another infielder yet is beyond me, unless they have some plan to trade for one during Spring Training. Also, rumors surfaced right after Christmas that Cody Ross and the Rockies were nearing a deal that would bring the outfielder to Colorado. It makes sense on Cody's part, as he wants to play in a hitters park if he's going to sign a one-year deal and since the Giants don't seem to want him, he's got to weigh his options. My beef here is with Sabean. Once Beltran signed with St. Louis, Cody Ross should have become a priority again for the Giants. They need another outfielder and the best, most versatile player with the highest upside on this market now has become Cody Ross (Cespedes technically, but yeah right). Also, the Giants have seen him when he's healthy and hitting and although he may not be a #5 hitter they really need, when Cody's on he's an above average #6 hitter, and a rock-solid defender. Plus, you Colorado knows his situation, they know they can go bargain shopping with him because he wants to hit there. Maybe I see Ross as a more important piece than the rest, but if the Giants are really going to try and win with 2010's formula again, they're missing one key ingredient. Give Cody Ross a 1-year deal and be done with this outfield! If he signs for 1 year and something like $4.5 million in Colorado, I'm going to break whatever breaks me the news. As you can see, he's still viewed as having starters value, getting ranked 32 amongst all FA's this winter!
I mean sure, I'd rather have Cespedes or trade for Quentin or Upton, but lets get real here, if Sabean won't pony up $26 mill for Beltran after giving away his top prospect for him months prior, I highly doubt he tries another one of those star-vet-for-star-prospect for a long, long while. Again, the only time he should engage in those types of talks is if he knows before hand he can keep the acquired player for beyond a year or two. He ends up making two mistakes with Beltran because of that law of thinking. Not only did the Giants fail to make the playoffs with Beltran, the Giants failed to keep him beyond the 1/2 season after parting with Zach Wheeler when Beltran was only wanting 2 years. I guess I could just keep going on and on about it and wondering why, but it's almost the new year and it's time to start focusing on whats ahead. Fact of the matter is, Cabrera is a good player just coming into his prime. An all-star game in his future isn't out of the question and he ads to their young nucleus. Pagan is better than Torres, simple as that (check baseball cards for both). They're going to need Buster to give them 140 games somewhere, and Freddy Sanchez to do about the same, but otherwise, things could be a lot worse I guess. At least they didn't deal Cain for some irrelevant Yankee prospect and Nick Swisher, which they Yanks were begging for all Meetings long supposedly.
We want to get in one more post before the New Year, our final 2012 Roster Prediction post, before we hit the final month and a half of the offseason. The Giants are certain to make other moves, nothing on the large scale of course, but they need an infielder, another outfielder and it wouldn't hurt to invite another catcher to spring either.... Also, my newest fear as a player Sabean pursues that joins the list of Ryan Ludwick, if for no other reason he could get him dirt cheap, Raul Ibanez. Rather have Ludwick, but I'd take either as a backup at $1-2M (though AT&T would sap his power).
Comments
Seriously... They don't have enough soft hitting, base stealers in the outfielder? I really don't get Sabean's philosophy at all!