Hot Stove Update: Winter Meetings Begin

Major League Baseball's annual Winter Meetings are probably in the process of going the way of record and book stores and shopping malls.  Modern communications make it unnecessary for executives to gather in one place to do business.  I would certainly hope that most transactions no longer require both parties to belly up to a bar to see which one loses their inhibitions first.  The proof was in the almost frantic flurry of activity last week as teams seemed to be almost desperate to complete their hoped for transactions prior to arriving at the meetings this week.  Giants manager Brian Sabean didn't even wait until last week to finish the lion's share of his offseason work completing the top 5 of his 6 stated priorities long before last week's frenzy.  Here is a summary of what Sabes has accomplished so far:

1.  Signed Hunter Pence, the best OF on the FA market, to a 5 year/$90 M contract.  After Jacoby Ellsbury signed for 7 years/$153 M, Pence is looking like the bargain of the offseason!

2.  Signed Tim Lincecum, 2 years/$40 M.  That is a lot of $$$$ for a guy who hasn't pitched very well for the last 2 years, but the key here is the short length of the contract as the Giants have a lot of pitching talent in the minors who should be ready by 2016.

3. Signed Tim Hudson, 2 years/$23 M.  Huddy is coming off a severe ankle fracture but is reportedly on tract for a full recovery.  Again, the key here is the short length of the contract for a guy who should be able to pitch a lot of quality innings and be a huge upgrade on Barry Zito, at least the Zito of last year.

4.  Signed Javier Lopez, 3 years/$13 M.  Gotta have that shutdown lefty specialist if you want to take it all the way in the postseason.  In today's market, $4.5 M/year is a bargain.  The only thing I don't like about the deal is it takes him through his age 39 season.

5.  Signed Ryan Vogelsong, 1 year/$5 M with incentives that could push it to $7 or 8 M.  This one is a bit curious as the Giants declined an option for almost the same amount of money earlier in the offseason.  I have to think Sabes must have thought he saw an opening on the market that did not materialize, maybe Johnson or Haren?  When Phil Hughes gets 3 years/$24 M and Scott Feldman gets 3 years/$30 M, Huddy's contract looks like a huge bargain and Vogey's 1 year deal looks like a favorable risk for the Giants.  Even Timmy's deal doesn't look like so much of an overpay!

6.  Declined Barry Zito's option for $18 M, paying him $7 M to go away.

So what's left?  The clamor is for a leftfielder.  I have never heard Brian Sabean make any declaration that upgrading LF is a priority for him.  At the postseason press conference, a reporter included it in a list of priorities and Sabes reply was "that's about right", or something to that effect.  He has also said that when you look at the overall contribution of the player, including defense, that in upgrade is not as easy as it looks.  He clearly was referring to Gregor Blanco there.  Other Sabes pronouncements on the subject include that while the Giants have room for more addtions to the 2014 payroll budget, they do not want to commit to any more big longterm deals that may limit flexibility in future years.  He has also said that he is not willing to give up the first round draft pick(#14 overall) for a FA with a QO and that the FA market looks weak.  There have been no less than 3 articles on sfgiants.com suggesting that Sabes will be looking for a trade at the Winter Meetings to the point where if he does not come away with something, it will seem like a huge failure, although Sabes himself appeared to throw cold water on expectations by saying not to expect any major deals.  BTW, Sabes also flatly stated that Brandon Belt is NOT moving to LF!

Once you get past Shin-Soo Choo and Nelson Cruz, neither of whom are coming to SF, the FA pickings are almost non-existent.  The only guy you might consider is Mike Morse, who the Giants are rumored to be kicking the tires on.  Morse is a terrific hitter when he's healthy, which is almost never.  He is also a terrible OF who gives  away about as many runs as he produces.  He might be able to play a Pat the Bat role, but you would not want to pay much more than the Giants paid for The Machine, the first time!

We've had several good suggestions for potential trades in the comments sections of previous threads in which most of the possibilities have been discussed.  I think we all know that neither Matt Kemp nor Andre Ethier are coming here.  The two names that I find the most attractive are Justin Ruggiano and Justin Maxwell.

Ruggiano may be available as the Marlins are going with a youth movement.  He hit just .220 last year but that came with 18 HR's and 15 SB's. His .260 BABIP suggests that a nice rebound season is possible. He also does not hurt you on defense.  I would not give up much for him, but would go for deal that cost a single bullpen arm or an extra middle infielder.

Justin Maxwell seems to be pushed aside in KC with the acquisition of Aoki.  Again, Maxwell strikes out a lot and will likely never hit for much of an average but he has solid walk rates, enormous power potential and can D it up in CF.  Again, as long as not too much is going the other way, I would be down with a flyer on Maxwell.

Logan Morrison appears to be available.  He was once considered one of the better young hitters in the game. He is coming off 2 abysmal seasons, is a terrible fielder and a bit of a loose cannon personality.  He and Sabes kind of got into a comment war after the Posey injury.  I don't think he's coming to SF and I don't particularly want him.

Without indulging in any Brian-Sabean-is-a-terrible-GM  or the Giants-lineup-is-terrible or the-Giants-are-cheapskates rants, what REALISTIC deals would you like to see Sabes come home with?