2010 Free Agents - who do you think the Giants should go after?

Holliday really struggled in Oakland's pitcher friendly ballpark. He'd be an upgrade, but I don't think he'd put up the numbers the Giants need. This team needs to figure out if they want to be built on speed and small ball or a slugging team. History would suggest our best seasons was with a slugging team Bonds era, Will Clark, Kevin Mitchell etc.

Maybe a true slugger like Adam Dunn or Hideki Matsui would work?

I also like Jason Bay, but there's too many better options for him.

If they want to go small-ball they should pursue Chone Figgins and Felipe Lopez.

 

We've reportedly already shown interest in Johnny Damon, Jermaine Dye, Nick Johnson, Mark Derosa. I'd welcome any of them but they're less attractive if Sabes gives them a Rowand-esque deal. How about Carlos Delgado too?

There's also rumors of us going after Dan Uggla via trade which I think would be the best realistic addition. The problem comes when deciding what to give in return and we'd have to move Freddy Sanchez to 3B (as Sabes has talked about the last couple weeks). Also doesn't really help with the goal of finding guys with good averages and good OBP. But he does bring power that we're sorely lacking.

We also probably need a stop-gap catcher to swap time with Posey. Pudge was offered arbitration so hes out of the picture. I was in favor of just running with Whiteside for a while but I think hes well below par as an MLB catcher in every category besides calling games.

 

Free agent catchers

Gregg Zaun
Rod Barajas
Ivan Rodriguez
Miguel Olivo
Jose Molina
Henry Blanco

 

G's are also rumored to be looking at bringing Torrealba back.

 

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/12/giants-padres-discussing-kouzmanoff.html

G's and Padres discussing Kouzmanoff. G's offering Freddy Lewis and Kevin Frandsen. Pads want more. I'd like the move if all we had to give up was USELESS players like Fred and Frandsen. BUT this is such a fucking classic Sabes move. Like a comment says below the report, Kouz and Garko are roughly equivalent on offense. Kouzmanoff is a better defender but this is such a marginal upgrade for the G's. Yeah Kous is an alright starter but we need an above average bat or two. Kouz is a minor upgrade to our lineup and doesn't fill the 3 or 5 spot in the lineup which is what we really need. Classic Sabes lateral move.

I'd like this move if it meant only giving Fred and Frandsen. To me that's basically getting Kouzmanoff for free. We need to get as many competent hitters as possible because we had zero in the way of pinch hitting last season (Schierholtz was alright but he shouldn't even be on the bench). Adding a competent bat for nothing = good. BUT I can totally see Sabes getting Kouz and he and the G's brass pimping him as such a great overall player and whatnot and totally declining to get a GOOD hitter. I'm pro getting Kouz for jack shit but if that means we DON'T get a quality bat elsewhere then I'll be pissed. We need an Uggla, Beltre, Nick Johnson, Nady, SOMEONE to give us ~.300 hitting with a good OBP that we can comfortably plant into the 3 or 5 slot.

In other news, the G's have shown interest in Ryan Doumit. Looking at his numbers, he had two good years prior to last season. I wouldn't mind picking him up on a one year deal. Uggla talks are going nowhere- Marlins want Bumgarner and usually want starting pitching back in any trade. Sabes said hes not trading Sanchez either. Possible Kouz rumors are to lower asking price but it smells to distinctly like a Sabe move that I don't buy it.

My conjecture- Sabes gives us 2-3 non-upgrade bats. Pucetas or Joe Martinez is our 5th starter going into the season. Another year without playoffs.

 

UPDATE: Bochy denies Kouzmanoff rumors. Still seems like EVERYONE is reporting that there have been talks though.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/10491164

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/12/giants-rumors-bay.html


Bay is my absolute #1 guy for the G's to sign in FA so its good to hear he isn't COMPLETELY ruled out but its still unlikely. We'd have to give up our first round pick plus outbid the Sox and whoever else wants him. But Baggerly had an interesting tidbit from Sabean: due to Pudge getting a two year deal, that set the market for the shitty crop of catchers in this FA class to demand two year deals. Sabes is pretty dead set on a one year deal and said there's a chance that they'll just roll with Posey and take their lumps.

To be honest I'm not very opposed to that. I agree with the G's in looking for a one year stop gap catcher but if all these shitty catchers want more than you want to give them then why not give Posey the reigns? There'll be mistakes but hes gotta learn by playing anyway. Not to mention thats a few million less you'll be spending in FA- which means you have spend a few mil more on bats at other positions.

 

Oh, and G's officially out of Torrealba race as hes been offered a two year deal.

Nice to see the G's are linked to so many bats, perhaps waiting out the market to get some good deals for once. Still a mystery as to why they haven't been linked to Delgado or Nady though IMO. As much as I would love to add OBP we need to consider guys with some pop as well.

 

SJ Mercury News

 

Looks like Benji is going to be a Met ...

 

Read this morning that there's a belief that the Marlins would non-tender Uggla if no one offers them a good trade before the deadline. Marlins denied it. Interesting though. Everyone knows they're not going to pay for him plus hes not THAT good anyway yet the Marlins are asking a premium price for him. You figure they have to trade him, at some point they just have to take the best offer on the table. No one is going to offer their top prospect when they know the Marlins will trade him no matter what. What's more interesting is that I also read that the G's are unlikely to make any moves before Sturday's non-tender deadline.

Nick Johnson, Adrian Beltre, and DeRosa are all good options. Why so many infielders though? We could use a good bat in the outfield as well.

 

Updates from Baggs:

Would really like Derosa and Johnson but that doesn't give us much pop. They're nice hitters but even with them our lineup still isn't very good. Podsednik has been heavily linked to the G's in the last 24 hours. I know nothing about him but I see hes been an all-star, hits well for average and good OBP. He'd help us at leadoff but, again, while adding guys who get on base more is helpful a lineup with Johnson, DeRosa, and Podsednik added doesn't strike much fear into opposing teams IMO.

Tidbit from another Baggs piece re: Beltre:

We've been constantly linked to Beltre but it seems like we're not actually remotely close to landing him. Furthermore it seems like the BoSox are getting in on the Beltre market once they move Lowell (which is imminent).

I'd like to see us get in on Nady or Mike Cameron. It seems like DeRosa-Nick Johnson is an either-or type situation. Why would we sign both unless we plan on using DeRosa a lot in the OF? Nady, while very injury prone, is a .300 hitter with solid OBP and respectable power. Cameron is still putting up 20+ HR a year and nice defense.

What do you guys think of this lineup:

Podsednik RF
Sanchez 2B
N. Johnson 1B
Sandoval 3B
DeRosa LF
Rowand CF
Barajas? Doumit? C
Renteria SS
SP

Looks pretty pedestrian to me. And that's only assuming we sign EVERYONE we want. At this point I'm in favor of not signing a catcher, throwing Posey into the fire and using the money that would have been spent on a C on other bats. IMO that would give us the most potential for added offense as Posey has a chance to be a better bat than any FA catcher.

 

Latest from Baggs:

http://blogs.mercurynews.com/extrab...-remain-aggressive-looking-for-first-baseman/

Some notable hitters who were non-tendered: Johnny Gomes, Jack Cust, Kelly Johnson.