Now that Mr. Sabean has clarified the Giants' position on Bonds (just say "no") and the rest of the league ("we're kicking the tires"), it is time for serious talk about 2008.
1B) Rich Aurilia. Dan Ortmeier. Hmmmm, unproven rookie and tired old hack. I'm goin' with the rook, Richie can sit and play back-up.
2B) Ray Durham. Kevin Frandsen. I want KF to succeed so badly it makes my teeth hurt. I expect Durham will play better (he was one of the worst in MLB last year, so I'm not reaching here). Sorry Ray, you sit. The phenom plays.
SS) Sabean loves Omar--who doesn't? Omar will sign with us because no one else is interested. They all have younger shortstops.
3B) Sabean loves Pete. Get used to it. Another Richie A backup spot.
LF) Roberts. Expect a rebound season
CF) Davis/Lewis platoon. One of them can play, let's find out which one.
RF) Winn. Decent player all around. Our "main man" next year. Schierholz make the team? Only if one of our CF's blows chow in the spring.
Ugh. We'll be lucky to score 3 runs per game. And adding Mike Lowell or Torii Hunter or Andruw Jones won't change that very much.
Help me out here, I'm drowning!
7 comments:
The fact of the matter is, we have to do better than this to get out of last place. Even playing all the rooks and eating Aurilia/Roberts/Durham's salaries gets us nowhere. This is the same team we fielded last year, except that Bond's bat is missing, and that is big difference. Sabean will be dealing with the currency that we have, that is our young pitchers, or fans will be screaming for his head. Big name or no name (and personally, I think there is more value in no name, especially in a thin free agent year) we will be trading. The longer we wait for those trades means that Sabean is not jumping at mediocrity - he is waiting for good options.
Also, I read today on ESPN.com about the Angels, and how they might take a run at ARod (for $350 million?!?). They should just sign Bonds to DH. He would be an awesome hitting combo with Vlad and would avoid the ARod/Boras circus and over-inflated price. This should be self-evident to people who think about winning baseball.
Zo
I have this recurring nightmare: a beleaguered Brian Sabean, working the phones late in the office, gets a call from a nameless GM of a midwestern ballclub.
"Yo, Bri, I got 3 top-notch AA guys, sluggers, big upside, maybe a 1B, maybe a 3B, maybe a DH--woops, NL, right? sorry--whaddya say you gimme a shot at Timmy for the lot of 'em?"
Brian Sabean: "Uh, well, sure, I guess, I mean, AA? You don't have any AAA guys?"
Nameless midwestern GM: "Bri, baby, do I gotta repeat myself? It's a good deal, TRUST ME."
Brian Sabean: "Uh, well, if you say so, uh, OK."
Then I wake up. The rest of the day I think I'm getting psoriasis. A weird, inexplicable creepiness climbs over my back and arms and I scratch myself all over in a frenzied attempt to relieve my anguish. Then it goes away, and I get through the day.
Then I go to bed and, well, you get the idea.
Welcome to the blogosphere, Zo!!
I don't think anybody will be "screaming for his head" actually. We have been bad for a few years now (with Barry) and his job was always secure. Our fan base may whine and complain, but nobody cares that much. The front office won't care until attendance goes below 2.5 million.
I don't see anyway Sabean trades our pitchers for prospects...only established stars, and that won't happen either. So sleep tight stick boy.
The big question is what to do with Durham. That is the key and it will tell us alot about our "new" direction.
Would you trade Tim and/or Matt and prospects for Miguel Cabrera?
Since we will likely sign Omar, does that mean that we have absolutely ZERO prospects at SS?
Of course other GM's are going to offer crap for Cain and Lincecum. But you have to have very little faith in the man to think that he would jump at it. That is why the longer we wait, the better. The question is not Miguel Cabrera for and ace and prospects, what about Miguel Cabrera and prospects for an ace?
Late to this commentary, but as a non-fan of Sabean, I do wonder why he continues to have such front-office support. Giants fans have always been faithful, but it will be interesting to see if the crowds that turned out to watch Barry still turn out to watch what seems to be left. Omar did get signed and I, for one, am glad, though it would obviously be grand if his bat caught up with his terrific glove.
And Sabean may not be jumping at mediocrity -- but let's see what he does manage to jump at -- hopefully, 'good options' -- or it IS time to have his head. Sorry about your 'what-can-possibly-be-done-to-fix-this' psoriasis symptoms, MC, but I reckon you aren't the only one out there in the night with the bottom dwellers pathology. The hope comes with the trades -- which will maybe meld us back into a competing 'team' again. Sorry -- babble babble babble. NOC
We signed Omar, and Sabean is garnering some critism for paying $5+ million a year for a year plus an option. Then I read about how David Eckstein is a free agent, and is looking for $9 mil a year for three years. Even the fact that Eckstein is on the market made it imperative to sing Omar, at any price. And for a real cranky outlook, see http://www.firejoemorgan.com/
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