Hot Stove Update: What's Left?

I used to love to play armchair GM in the offseason and think about signings and trades I would make as GM of the Giants. Over the years, I've discovered armchair GM'ing is mostly a futile exercise and ultimately frustrating. Whattheheck though? The Hot Stove has died down to mere embers and we need something to break up the monotony of reviewing last year's top prospects.

mlbtraderumors.com recently identified backup shortstop and 6'th starter as the two items of unfinished business for the Giants. Most of discussion has centered around the mini-drama of Edgar Renteria and his characterization of the Giants offer of $1 million for 1 year as "insulting." Now, Edgar Renteria has done a lot of good things in his career, not the least of which was hitting the HR that won the World Series for the Giants, so I don't really blame him for feeling like he deserves some respect. On the other hand, Edgar is clearly nearing the end of his illustrious career and well, baseball is a business. Until Edgar hit that HR, the $18 million he got from the Giants over the last 2 seasons insulted the sensibilities of a lot of fans. One could easily make a case for both sides owing the other something here.

Things had kind of died down on the Edgar Renteria front until this last week when it was reported the Reds had made an offer. I don't know the dollar amount, but Edgar responded by announcing he intends to play 2 more seasons, the strong implication being that the Reds had offered 1 year and Edgar is looking for a 2 year offer. Now, I wouldn't be at all against the Giants sweetening their offer to $2 M as an appreciation for Edgar's WS heroics, but 2 years for a guy who's spent almost as much time on the DL as playing the last 2 years is not something the Giants are going to do, nor should they.

So, what other options might the Giants have if Edgar gets something more to his liking from another team? There isn't a whole lot out there, but the cupboard isn't completely bare either:

Orlando Cabrera- John Shea of sfgate.com recently commented that the Giants have kicked the tires on OCab. Now, I'd be pretty disappointed if OCab was the starting shortstop next year, although he'd probably provide better D than Miggy T. As a backup option though, I'd definitely be down with it.

Nick Punto- The Giants have recently gone to extremes in roster flexibillity and Punto would fit right in here as he is a jack of all trades. He also plays plus D at shortstop. He's not going to give you much in the way of offense, but he would likely be better at the plate than Emmanuel Burriss.

Bobby Crosby- Crosby is a guy who could probably be picked up on the cheap. He's been a negative of D the last 2 seasons and he'll never hit for more than about .230, but he will hit an occasional HR. Who knows, maybe he could be a Juan Uribe type reclamation project?

Augie Ojeda- another versatile guy who will give you a slight plus on D. He's good at drawing walks, but doesn't give you anything else at the plate.

Cristian Guzman- This one seems like the least likely option, so he's probably who Sabes will end up signing and it will probably work out pretty well. Guzman is only 33 years old, I thought he was in his late 30's. He has been essentially a replacement player for the last two seasons, but sometimes these guys have an "indian summer" in the autumn of their careers.

The Giants could go with Fontenot as the only backup MI. He is probably adequate as an occasional fill-in with the hope that Brandon Crawford shows enough by mid-season if a shortstop replacement is needed for an extended period. That plan would not leave the Giants with much teeth in their threat to demote Pablo if he comes to camp out of shape. Perhaps DeRosa could play 3B in that case leaving Tejada at shortstop? This is where I always start to get a headache with these analyses! In any event, it seems likely that the Giants will try to sign another player whose main duty would be backup shortstop.

Signing another infielder would leave the Giants with a major roster crunch, probably a nice problem to have, but one the Giants may have difficulty resolving the way they would want. The Giants already have 25 players who are "locks" to make the 25 man roster to start the season, and that's if Brandon Belt starts the year in the minors and they only carry 11 pitchers:

8 position starters- C Buster Posey(1B), 1B Aubrey Huff(LF), 2B Freddy Sanchez, 3B Pablo Sandoval(1B), SS Miggy T(3B), LF Pat Burrell, CF Andres Torres(RF, LF), RF Cody Ross(CF, LF). 5 SP- Timmy, Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez, MadBum, Barry Zito. 1 Closer- Brian Wilson. 5 Relievers- Sergio Romo, Jeremy Affeldt, Santiago Casilla, Javier Lopez, Ramon Ramirez. 6 Bench- Eli Whiteside(C), Mike Fontenot(2B, SS, 3B), Travis Ishikawa(1B), Nate Schierholtz(RF, LF, CF), Aaron Rowand(CF), Mark DeRosa(LF, 3B, 2B, 1B, SS?).

Questions: 1. Will Pablo be the starter at 3B? 2. Will DeRosa's surgery hold this time and allow him to play? 3. Will Freddy Sanchez start the season on the DL after yet another shoulder surgery?

Assuming everybody is healthy and ready to go, adding another shortstop to the mix would mean at least 1 and likely 2 players who are current "locks" would need to go. If Belt has a huge spring training and forces his way onto the team, that number would increase to 3.

Who's on the bubble?

I think just about everybody, including the Giants, would like to see Aaron Rowand somewhere else next year. Sabes has certainly gone about his roster building this offseason as though Rowand isn't in his plans at all. The problem is how do you make that happen? I believe $24 M would be the biggest contract the Giants have ever swallowed, but maybe it will come to that? How much relief could they get in a trade? $3 M/season or $6 M total would seem to be the absolute upper limit they could hope for. Then, you have to find a team that needs an aging CF who can't hit any more. Good luck with that!

The Giants have several players to back up first base. I love Travis Ishikawa's defense and his pinch hitting, but can they afford to keep a bench player who only plays 1B? He would seem to be #2 on the bubble after Aaron Rowand.

Nate Schierholtz- absolutely love his D in RF, but if Belt forces his way onto the team and Huff moves to LF, Nate's fate would probably be sealed even if Rowand and Travis are already gone.

Guillermo Mota was signed to a minor league deal and I have a hard time seeing the Giants going with just 11 pitchers for very long into the season.

As for 6'th starter, the options are still too numerous for any type of analysis. Sabes will probably make 1 or 2 minor league deals near the start of spring training. I actually wouldn't mind Wellemeyer as long as it was strictly a minor league deal and he started the season in Fresno.

How do you see the roster crunch shaking out?