The Giants Baseball Blog

When I look up and down the Giants roster, as is right now, it really reminds me a lot of the bunch they had entering the 2010 season. But instead of Buster Posey pushing for Bengie Molina's job, this year it will be Brandon Belt in the hunt for Aubrey Huff's first base job. Now, being that the Giants failed to add any real legitimate power to their lineup, and haven't added a bunch of new personnel to their 25-man roster at all, in order for their offense to turn around in 2012, they need guys like Aubrey Huff, who were miserable in 2011, to get back on track. If he doesn't, and either Brandon Belt or Brett Pill outperform him throughout the spring and the early part of the season, I hope the Giants won't hesitate to make the switch to the younger, more valuable player, much like they did when they shipped Bengie Molina out of town to make room for Buster Posey in 2010. That move was one that helped catapult them into the playoffs and eventually to the top of the b...

It took a lot longer than I was expecting, but the Giants finally added a little bit of depth/competition to their middle infield mix this spring by agreeing to terms with Ryan Theriot on a one-year deal worth about $1.25 million. I like this move quite a bit, not because I expect Theriot to be a long-term answer at short for the Giants, but it gives the team depth in the infield when they really needed it and provides some competition heading into spring. It's a non-guaranteed deal, meaning unless Theriot beats out Burris or Fontenot in spring for an opening day roster spot, that contract becomes void, leaving him with plenty of incentive to show up rearing to go. Theriot isn't quite as good defensively at short as he was 3-4 years ago, but he's still the best option the Giants now have there besides Crawford. Again though, the best part of this deal is the fact that it ensures that guys like Burris or Justin Christian aren't going to be just handed a job do to lack of...

Well, even though I touched on it a little bit in our last post, I haven't really had a chance to get my thoughts out on the new Lincecum deal since he and the Giants agreed earlier in the week. Also, on the other end of things, the Giants missed out on shoring up their outfield by letting Cody Ross sign in Boston for only $3 million in 2012. First off, obviously, wanted to talk a bit about Lincecum. I've already said here that I didn't expect him to sign a long-term deal that takes him through free agency, but it doesn't mean he wants to leave San Francisco like everyone is suspecting. I mean, if I were Lincecum, I'd probably do the same thing, even if I planned on eventually signing with the Giants long-term. Why take a chance at mitigating your value to just sign a deal? Granted, a 5 year, $100 million deal isn't anything to sneeze at, in this market, if he were a free agent, Lincecum could probably easily command a 8 year, $200 million deal. If he could get ...

If the Giants were counting on Lincecum giving the team a hometown discount, they may want to think again, after reports surfaced Monday that the ace right-hander turned down a 5 year, $100 million contract. Now, that deal would have only bought Lincecum out of 3 years of free agency, and would have freed him up when he turned 32. At that age, he'd easily be up for another long-term, big money deal as long as he keeps up his dominant ways, so it is a little bit concerning. However, I don't at all see this as a sign that he wants out of San Francisco like everyone in the media is trying to make it out to be. All this really tells me, is that Lincecum isn't going to give the team a hometown discount, and after the numbers he's put up, he's got the right to do so. He's arguably one of the most valuable pitchers in the game right now, based on the fact that he's not only a dominant ace with 2 Cy Youngs already at 27, but a fan favorite who will fill up a ballpar...

After the Giants came to deals with nearly all their arbitration eligible players this week, including signing Sergio Romo to a one-year deal Friday, the teams final arbitration eligible player is also their biggest. Even though their preliminary figures were $4.5 million off, I still expect the Giants and their ace to come to terms before they'd be forced to go before an arbiter. The Giants gave one of the premiere set-up men in the game in Sergio Romo, a one-year, $1.5 million deal. That's more than double what he made in 2011, but the right-hander has really earned it as he's become one of the games premiere set-up men. The only minor concern I have with Romo is his durability. At such a young age (28), you'd expect him to be able to take on more of work-load than the 49 innings he threw in 2011, but none the less, the 49 innings he threw in 2011 were pretty darn dominant. He ended the season with a 1.5 era, 70 K's, 5 BB's, and a 0.71 WHIP over those 48 innin...

Well, you can mark off the two newest Giants on the list of arbitration eligible players who still need deals. The Giants inked each outfielder to one-year deals and avoided any hearing with Santiago Cassilla by inking the reliever to a one-year deal as well. Melky Cabrera, who the Giants shipped off Jonathan Sanchez for, ended up getting a one-year, $6 million deal, and will become a free agent after this upcoming season. After the season Cabrera just had, I have to consider Cabrera's figure pretty reasonable. Dude hit over .300 with over 200 hits, 20 homers, 20 steals, and had over 100 runs scored, all of which are very good benchmarks in terms of arbitration. With Pagan, the Giants may end up getting a steal at $4.85 million for 2012. It's been said more than once this offseason, as long as the Giants get a determined Pagan, and get him back closer to his 2010 form, then they'll have themselves a very affordable, legit leadoff hitter (something they didn't have at an...

Here we are, about a month to the day until pitchers and catchers report to Scottsdale, and though it appears as if the Giants offseason activity is probably over, there are still several players available on the free agent market that I believe could improve the team's 25-man roster. Now, being that it is well into January, most of the premiere guys have already found homes, and the ones that haven't (Prince Fielder, Carlos Pena, Roy Oswalt) probably won't land in a Giants uniform. However, there are still just a few guys I've kept my eye on over the last few weeks, and if they approach February without homes, would certainly be worth taking a flyer on, especially on a short-term deals. Those players are: Cody Ross, OF: Ever since the Giants struck out on Beltran, I've made it more than clear that I want Cody Ross back in a Giants uniform. So much to the point where I should put under the heading of the page, "Bring Back the Boss!" In all seriousness tho...