The Giants just showed that they are really not tied to some predetermined payroll and are willing to do what it takes to keep a winner together. The Giants signed Mike Fontenot to a contract extension to avoid going to arbitration(so that IS what those discussions with his agent were about!). Chris Ray was not tendered a contract and is now a free agent. All 6 of the Giants other arbitration eligible players were offered arbitration. The only player missing from last year's playoff roster is Juan Uribe, and he's been replaced by something about as close to being Juan Uribe without actually being him as you can get. I guess I'm forgetting Guillermo Mota who is a free agent, but I don't think anyone seriously expected him to be back. So here's the roster as it stands now:
5 SP's: LIncecum, Cain, Sanchez, Bumgarner, Zito
6 RP's: Wilson, Romo, Affeldt, Casilla, Ramirez, Lopez
2 C: Posey, Whiteside
6 IF: Huff, Sanchez, Tejada, Sandoval, Fontenot, Ishikawa
6 OF's: Torres, Ross, Rowand, Burrell, Nate, DeRosa
The Giants will probably want to carry 7 relievers, so one of the position players may be the odd man out. I have a feeling Rowand is not going to be on the team come Opening Day. Another possibility, of course, is that Pablo goes to Fresno, but early reports on his conditioning program are encouraging. I would like to see the Giants upgrade their backup catcher position. Other than that, I'd say the Giants offseason is pretty much complete except for the negotiations with the arbitration guys.
What do you think the rest of the Giants offseason will look like?
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I like what we've seen so far! Excited to see how Mark DeRosa actually can play with 2 wrists and how Bumgarner will fare in a whole season in the bigs - especially because I think he threw enough innings for people to have a good read on what he has now.
ReplyDeleteOther than those moves, I don't think anything happened we didn't totally expect. Chris Ray was unfortunately expendable, but likely will be a major upgrade to almost any other bullpen he joins...
Now, where does Brandon Belt fit if he blows our minds in camp? Is there a chance the Giants just totally buyout Aaron Rowand?
if belt forces it, then nate is gone.
ReplyDeletehow do you improve your back up catcher? who would that be? anybody who is any good is not going to want to sit on the bench for 140 games a year. and anybody who is not that good probably wouldn't be as comfortable with the giants pitchers as whiteside is (i mean, he was sanchez' personal catcher at one point, right?) and, really, do you think you will get that much improvement with the bat with whomever you would find to compensate for that?
people give whiteside a bad time, but really, he is not a problem. how many teams have noticeably better back up catchers? i ask that sincerely for anyone who cares to do the research.
Minor correction - you also forgot that we are without our WS MVP (Edgar Renteria) as well.
ReplyDeleteThe signing of Fontenot tells me the Giants believe he can do an acceptable job of backing up Tejada at SS which frankly surprises me. I will however defer to their judgment on this.
I am in agreement with you that the Giants are likely to add a 7th bullpen arm and thus could have a decision to make on removing one of these position players. As i see it the first two candidates are Sandoval and DeRosa. Pablo has to show he is both in shape and has found his batting stroke. Mark has to prove he is both healthy and still able to perform at a MLB level. If these first two candidates prove they deserve to stay then I think you will be right and the Giants will trade Rowand eating most of his remaining salary.
As for who gets cut when Belt plays his way into the lineup (he will not be put on the roster until he is ready to start), I think Ishikawa is the obvious answer.
I neglected to comment on Whiteside. I am with Anonymous II on this. The Giants just do not have enough playing time to offer to get a better backup option to choose to sign with the Giants.
ReplyDeleteBottom line, I am starting to think that Sabean is done adding players unless an obvious upgrade falls into his lap.
IF they are intent on adding an additional arm, they have plenty of internal options...
ReplyDeleteSosa, Edlefson (he is probably the fave), Hinshaw, Tanner...
I like Whiteside. He knows the rotation and the rotation trusts him. He actually hit rather well last year when he got playing time early.
"The signing of Fontenot tells me the Giants believe he can do an acceptable job of backing up Tejada at SS which frankly surprises me. I will however defer to their judgment on this."
ReplyDeleteLooks like I was wrong here as the Giants are now expressing interest in re-signing Renteria and the interest is reported as being mutual here.
http://www.csnbayarea.com/12/02/10/Giants-open-to-Renteria-return-/landing_giants.html?blockID=365453&feedID=2539
Lots of great comments here. I guess my thinking on Whiteside was to give the backup catcher more PT and give Buster more time at 1B, just to preserve Buster's legs. The problem with sliding Buster over to 1B is that there are long stretches when Whiteside is an automatic out. My fear is that with Buster catching almost every game out of the gate, he will be worn down to nothing by September. I recognize the paucity of backup catchers out there. I think Ronny Paulino may be out there and he would be an upgrade. Otherwise, I guess we'll have to wait for Monell, Hector Sanchez or Tommy Joseph to get here. I know this ain't gonna happen, so it's hardly worth even talking about but having Pablo Sandoval catch some games while Buster moves to 1B would be an awfully nice way to give Buster a break too.
ReplyDeleteI agree on Ray being one of the better FA relievers out there now. That's why I think maybe the Giants should have gone ahead and tendered him and then put him on the trading block rather than just letting him go.
If they add Rent too, then somebody is definitely going to be the odd man out come opening day.
We have 38 on the 40 man by my count which means we might still be in play for a couple more guys. However, We have 25 guys with major league talent on our roster. So the two empty spots might be to bring in some invites to Spring Training and give them a shot. Also, if we were to draft someone in the Rule 5 draft, we would have a spot.
ReplyDeleteAaron Rowand makes absolutely no sense on this roster. I'm not opposed to him as a player -- he's still somewhat valuable, and probably very valuable for a bench player -- but everything he offers is already offered by someone else who can do whatever he offers better. If he wasn't owed $24 million over the next two years, I'd say it was a lock that he'd be traded or released. As it is, I have no idea what's going to happen with him.
ReplyDeleteGiven that our starting rotation can eat innings, the Giants might go with a 6-man bullpen, at least to start the year.
We still need a lefty bat -- ideally, it would be the backup catcher so we could shift Posey to 1B and put Huff in LF, taking a RH bat out of the lineup against tough righties.
Wow, Burrell signs for $1M no incentives, a truer hometown discount I have not seen. But $70M in the bank (minus taxes and leather outfits :^) helps with that.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking the Giants might go with 6 relievers to start the season. I think they did that in one of their past seasons, in order to check out some borderline position players (Velez?). When they need to add #7, then they can decide who to let go.
Same thing for when Belt is ready to come up.
Same for if they do sign Renteria.
Hate to say it, as I like him and his play plus he's a nice guy, but in all those cases, Ishikawa is the one to go, particularly in Belt's case, I agree with the above, as Belt supposedly plays great defense at 1B and appears to be better hitter than Ishikawa. And Ishikawa only plays 1B.
And Franchez, DeRosa, and Fontenot can play 3B so that Pablo can play 1B, so hopefully the Giants will trade Ishikawa now to Seattle Mariners, to give him chance to win starting 1B job in spring training, as Smoak did not look ready at all, up and down, in 2010 season. (funny how the crowd that was mad the Giants passed over Smoak to pick up Posey hasn't really mentioned that lately?) Travis grew up Mariners fan, so that would be nice, and I recall Sabean doing that for another player who was a good soldier for the Giants (but can't recall name).
I was going to point out Paulino but DrB beat me to punch. OK bat and according to defensive metrics I looked at when the Giants traded him to Marlins, very good there. Would be good fit if he's OK with backup role, but this could take until Jan/Feb before he accepts that role (and pay cut). I like Whiteside, but Paulino would be an upgrade if we can get him.
If the Giants can pick up some other good defensive catcher (Jose Molina?
Say, lost in the Tejada signing is that he is a Type A free agent, meaning we lose our first round pick for 2011, I think it is (was) 29th overall right now. We got one back for Uribe, but obviously back a bit further, though I've read that this is a deep draft, in relative terms, so whoever we get for Uribe pick might be equivalent to what our #1 pick would have been. Plus, that will save the Giants about $1.5M in bonus, so Tejada really only costing us $5.0M extra.
Speaking of SS, I would have to say that it is less the Giants think Fontenot can play SS but more that the Giants think that they will sign another utility SS. I think that is where the mutual admiration between Giants and Renteria is going, he's probably their first choice for that role, but waiting for Edgar to give up waiting for Cards and Marlins to give him a call.
FYI: Latest tweet on Pablo is that he has lost 15 pounds so far, roughly 3.5 pounds per week since last game where the Giants won the World Championship! And even after that huge sundae he had afterward, in that photo tweeted around, and Thanksgiving (though being from Venezuela, would he even celebrate it?). And also that he is Giants #1 choice for 3B right now. Tejada said in interview that he'll give Pablo some workout tips, which should be good, he's played 150+ games for most of his career.
I would think the Giants want to wait to see how Rowand looks in ST. He started out '10 pretty well, then, shortly after his beaning his bat went in the deep freeze. With a Winter to complete the recovery plus get back in to shape, he may have a more typical year next year and show that promise in ST. If so, he would be more valuable to trade. If not, if he showed the bat-in-the-freezer, they might have no alternative but to DFA him. Just too early to make any miove right now.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I was going to point out what Dave noted, that our rotation have guys who can go deep, Lincecum, Cain, Sanchez, Bumgarner, plus Zito has been an innings eater as well.
ReplyDeleteI know everyone is sort of scratching their head on who will be the odd guy out, especially with mutual interest between Renteria and the Giants now. Although Sabean has let me down in the past, I am going to hope that he puts the 25 best players out there. Guys egos and pride will be hurting, but it should be an awesome feeling for a fan when their team has legitimate big leaguers in the minors that can step in at any time.
ReplyDeletePablo Sandoval, who at one time could hit just about anything in the minors? Mark DeRosa, one of the more sought after FA's of 2009 not on the active roster? Fontenot or Renteria being buried on the bench? Aaron Rowand, one of our bigger acquisitions just being bought out? These are awesome problems to have! At least we aren't going to field any Dan Ortmeier's, Brian Bocock's or have Tony Torcato waiting in the wings as our next big slugger.
And I agree with Allfrank, have to keep Rowand. Torres, while better hitter lately, will be pretty old himself and Ross had a down year in 2010, what if that was just the beginning of the end too? No guarantee that Belt will push Huff to OF and Schierholtz unfortunately has been too injury prone to show whether he can be a starter (in short stints, been very hot then very cold before injury took him out). And as nice Burrell's story is for Giants so far, there is still that Tampa Bay blotch on his record, what if Giants hitting was the aberration? Perhaps due to playing for childhood team?
ReplyDeleteRowand needs to be kept in mix for now, partly for potential need, partly for potential to finally hit, partly because of contract, to start 2011 season.
Whole different ballgame by mid-season, he would "only" be owed $18M then, could see if another similar big money contract available for swap (Figgins?), could see if Phillies willing to take off hands but pay $5-8M of salary, could even eat it then if he's sucking again.
Forgot about his beaning, but he was great when he came back, he just faded pretty quickly after that.
So yes, just too early to make any move now.
We are not losing any picks for Tejada, since Padres have not offered arbitration to him.
ReplyDeletehope fontenot works on his d during the offseason
ReplyDeleteguess sabean chose not to kiss and make up with kfran
dont see how a move by belt dooms nate....rowand needs to go
impressed that burrell wants to play more than earn a big paycheck
surprised by the pharoh dfa
and i guess the org changed its mind on converting runzler
team is basically the same as last season...however, if pablo can return to 09 form and posey can beat the soph slump...should be a pretty solid team
Great baseball talk there, gang. Keep 'em coming!
ReplyDeleteTwo words. Greg. Zaun. He is recovering from shoulder surgery but should be cheap, and understands what it means to be a back-up catcher.
ReplyDelete