Burning Question #2: Who's Plays Shortstop?

Maybe this should have been Burning Question #1, because of all the items on Brian Sabean's to do list this offseason, filling the shortstop position may be both the most important and most difficult. If the Spring Training started tomorrow, the Giants would go to camp with the shortstop depth chart of 1. Mike Fontenot. 2. Emmanuel Burriss 3. Ryan Rohlinger, or something like that. You can put the names in a hat and draw them at random. That's a significant downgrade for a team on which shortstop was the weakest position by the end of last season, not exactly the depth chart of a defending World Series championship team.

To make matters worse, the free agent market isn't exactly overflowing with shortstop talent. Juan Uribe, who isn't anybody's vision of an ideal shortstop is easily the cream of the crop, well, at least if you eliminate Derek Jeter from consideration. Uribe doesn't look like a shortstop, huge upper body with spindly legs, especially from the knees down. He also doesn't hit for a high average and he doesn't draw a lot of walks. What Uribe does is hit home runs, enough to make him a valuable #6 or #7 hitter. That's a lot more than you can say for most shortstops. On defense, a cannon for an arm makes up for limited range. At low priced 1 year contracts like he has had with the Giants the last two years, Uribe is a godsend to a roster. On a multiyear contract for $ several million, he doesn't look so good.

The problem for the Giants is that Uribe is no longer flying under anybody's radar. The St. Louis Cardinals have essentially announced that they are looking for an offensive upgrade at shortstop, and wouldn't Uribe fill that bill! Many baseball prognosticators have already penciled him into Cincinnati's roster, and there could be a few others hoping to catch a little of the Giants magic dust. So it's quite possible, even likely that rather than being the bargain he has been for the Giants the last 2 years, Juan Uribe will be signed to one of the most overpriced contracts of this offseason. So, what are the Giants fallback options?

Here's where Brian Sabean may have the biggest test of his entire tenure as GM of the Giants, finding a shortstop for next season if another team gets blinded by the shiny World Series trophy they saw Uribe holding. Here are some possible options:

In House:

There is the aforementioned Burriss and Rohlinger plus Mike Fontenot, assuming Fontenot is tendered a contract. Fontenot is primarily a second baseman and his fielding deficiencies at shortstop would be exposed in an every day role, just like they were exposed at 3B in the post season. Neither Burriss nor Rohlinger has shown they can hit MLB pitching at even the Mendoza line, although Burriss brings intriguing speed to the table.

Brandon Crawford is the guy who the Giants appear to hope is the shortstop of the future. Unforunately, he was injured for a big chunk of 2010 leaving him at least a half season of minor league AB's short of being ready to play in the majors.

Ehire Adrianza has a nice future as a fielder, but struggled at the plate in A ball. He's clearly not ready!

Free Agents:

Once you get past Juan Uribe, the pickings are slim indeed. Edgar Renteria could be brought back at a lower salary, say $1-2 million, but nobody thinks he is anything more than a part time player at this point. It may be worth the risk hoping he makes it to mid-season and Crawford is ready by then, but clearly not plan A.

Orlando Cabrera has made a career lately out of being a one season option. He might be the best of the rest, but really?

JJ Hardy might be non-tendered by the Twins, and thus might be available in trade for not too much. He might make a nice reclamation project.

A quick perusal of the list of minor league free agents shows nobody obviously better than Burriss or Rohlinger. Luis Rodriguez from the White Sox organization had an Andres Torres-like breakout last year in AAA, but he played almost exclusively 2B leading one to suspect that he is no longer a shortstop.

There is some talk that Ryan Theriot could be non-tendered by the Dodgers. He would be an interesting option, especially if his buddy Mike Fontenot stays on with the Giants as a utility infielder.

Trades: Unfortunately this is where Sabean is probably going to have to find next year's shortstop if Uribe goes elsewhere.

There has been some speculation that Stephen Drew may be available, but there really has been no indication that he actually is. In any event, the D'Backs would be looking for a haul in return, and they might not trade him within the division at any price. Drew would be a perfect fit, though.

Jason Bartlett had a down year and the Rays are looking to shed payroll. They have a couple of younger, cheaper options in Reid Brignac and Sean Rodriguez, so Bartlett might be available on the cheap. The Rays are looking for cheap bullpen help and the Giants could help them with that. Bartlett isn't a great fielder nor a great hitter, but he has enough speed to be a SB threat, something the Giants could use more of.

Boston has a logjam at SS with Marco Scuturo signed last year as a FA, but Jed Lowrie ready to take over. They may be open to trading one or the other. Neither would be cheap in terms of who the Giants would have to give up though.

There are rumors that the White Sox are listening to offers for Gordon Beckham. He played mostly 2B last year, but played an adequate SS in 2009. He is pre-arbitration eligible, and would be a nice high ceiling pickup if the Giants could put together a package for him.

The Yankees are almost desperate to upgrade their bullpen. They have proclaimed that Eduardo Nunez is the heir Derek Jeter at shortstop, but one has to think that is just a pathetic attempt at posturing in Jeter's salary negotiations. Nunez should be available for a decent reliever. He might not be much of an upgrade over Emmanuel Burriss or Brandon Crawford though.

Am I missing anyone? Who do you think will be the Giants starting shortstop next season?