Giants Go Longo

The Giants did exactly what I didn't want them to do--they traded for Evan Longoria. He used to be one of the best players in the game. Now he is older and not as good and he's ours for five years. And they had to give up Christian Arroyo to get him. On the plus side they moved Denard Span in the deal and that means they will have to find a centerfielder. Longoria improves the team for the coming season, and that needed to happen. Armchair owner/GMs like me are willing to let the team lose in order to get younger; real GMs in San Francisco are not. The Giants are going to rebuild by pretending they are not, and in the meantime they'll get some quality players here and there and try to stay competitive. It should be a better club in 2018 just from our core people performing closer to their career averages than they did in 2017.

Regardless, I want Longoria to thrive with the Giants. Even if he isn't what I wanted for Christmas I'm not going to complain. The best thing that can happen is that he stays healthy and plays well, so I'm rooting for that. Welcome aboard, Evan.

--M.C.

Giants Strike Out

Giancarlo Stanton goes to the Yankees and Shohei Otani goes to the Angels. The Giants get skunked. By all appearances they gave it their best shot so I can't complain. Now we'll get to see what the real upgrade path looks like. No more speculation about superstars, just the roll-up-your-sleeves-and-get-to-work stuff. They've got a lot of work to do.

--M.C.

Ohstantoni Dreams

The Giants showed up to the off-season party in the loudest car wearing the dandiest threads and immediately bought the two hottest babes in the room drinks. I suppose if they go home without a date they can at least take pride in going all out. No pantywaist efforts here--the Giants have made it absolutely clear that they want the best players out there. The club was first-in with Giancarlo Stanton and now they are first-in with Shohei Otani. This is quite a show of organizational testosterone. I don't know what to make of it. But if they want those guys I'm fine with that. They'd sure help the team!

--M.C.