Henry Schulman reports:

Next name to watch for Giants: Xavier Nady. There's some mutual interest, but almost certainly on a minor-league deal + invite.

Xavier Nady:

Just a little better than Miguel Tejada last year, but Nady can play only a corner outfield spot or first. Other than that, sounds good.

There are a couple of folks on Twitter asking why people freak out over non-roster invitations, and it's a fair point. This wouldn't be a big deal. But sometimes the NRIs make the team, and it's also a little tiny window into an organization's thinking. Remember last year when the Giants brought in a guy who was a pitching prospect way back when they played at Candlestick? He got released from AAA in 2010, and he was supposed to have any sort of shot at the roster? Terrible idea. Wonder what ever happened to that guy.

Point is, there's a .0001% chance that Nady could help the Giants next season, but there's a 1% chance that he makes the team. The risk/reward is out of whack, especially when you have an organization that prefers veterans to unknowns -- a description that the Giants would agree with. Not a big deal, but it's January. These little chestnuts are nourishing.

Still, I'm almost -- almost -- rooting for Nady to sign with the Giants and make the team, only because it would be hilarious to see Bruce Bochy give him playing time now.

And here I thought the Giants weren't going to have a huge offseason …

ryan theriot in agreement with #giants on 1 yr deal. gives them good veteran ss option…

...theriot gets $1.25M from #SFGiants plus 750 grand in incentives

It might be raining, baby, but it's a good thing they squirreled that fund away for such an occasion!

As cynical as I want to be, though, here's the part that leads the story for me: Ryan Theriot has a career OBP of .344. He has Lincecum-esque power, he apparently runs the bases like Eugenio Velez, and he's not a highly regarded defensive shortstop. There are a lot of reasons to make an I-think-that-a-raccoon-must-have-been-trapped-under-the-house-and-died-there face.

Ryan Theriot has a career OBP of .344. Sold. Let's try it. Get a big trench coat, put him on Mike Fontenot's shoulders, and let them play there together at the same time. Because a .344 OBP is about a hundred points higher than I'm expecting from Brandon Crawford, and I wish that were hyperbole. This is what we've been reduced to.

True facts: Theriot hit .328/.412/.522 for the Cubs in 159 plate appearances in 2006; Mike Fontenot hit .305/.395/.514 in 284 plate appearances in 2008. Now I'm not sure how this whole "stats" thing works, but I'm pretty sure that you can just add those together to get what we should expect in 2012.

The jokes are a-flyin' on the Twitter machine about Sabean sabeaning a sabeaninstic archetype. Here, veteran: I got you this bouquet and some candy hearts with "Exercise My Heart's Option" printed on it. And that's fair. It's not like he hasn't earned the reputation of a veteranophile. But the jokes seem to miss just how screwed the Giants were at shortstop. Which is to say, very. There is an excellent chance that Theriot is an upgrade to the roster. That speaks to a lot of things that don't reflect well on the Giants, but it's true.

Crawford is still the ostensible starter -- and you just know this will be the one time that Bochy sticks with the youngster, just because -- but this gives the Giants another backup plan that isn't calling up Ehire Adrianza, or some such nonsense.

Ryan Theriot has a career OBP of .344. He gives a lot of that value back with his defense, and by running the bases like a nincompoop, but Ryan Theriot has a career OBP of .344. That would have been second on the 2011 Giants. ZiPS projects him to have a .324 OBP next season. That would have been fourth on the 2011 Giants, right behind the guy who's starting in right field. So I'll take it.

It's a half-eaten sandwich that you wrestled away from a seagull, and you have to spend more time than you want brushing the sand off the top, but it's still nourishment. Also, what kind of sandwich do you think Ryan Theriot would be? I'm thinking tuna salad with too much mayo.

Ryan Theriot: San Francisco Giant. Just when you think the universe isn't on rails, heading towards only one possible destination, something like this happens. But it's not a bad thing. Yet.

Just realized that for all of the Carlos Beltran-related hand-wringing, there aren't nearly enough Zack Wheeler complaints on the front page. I'll write a little sticky note for my desk and put it with the rest.

It's insane that the Giants traded their top pitching prospect for two months of Carlos Beltran. With the benefit of hindsight, it's such an obviously terrible move to make for a free agent a team has no intention of re-signing. When it went down, it didn't seem so bad. Watching the 2011 Giants hit did that to right-thinking people.

But I might be in the minority when I say that I'm glad it wasn't Gary Brown, as was first rumored. Tim Lincecum's going to be a free agent in two years. Matt Cain might be. There isn't a lot of pitching depth at the upper levels of the Giants' system. The 2014 rotation could be Bumgarner/Surkamp/Marquis/Suppan/Zito (after the option kicks in), so it would have been pretty keen to keep Wheeler around. Still, I'm irrationally attached to Brown. Giants hitting prospects are rare birds of paradise that you can't just get at a Costco, and I trust the team to develop pitching.

That's the way it used to be, at least. There was a decade or two of hitter-free development, but that rap can probably get retired if Brandon Belt becomes a starter in 2014, which would mean that over a third of the lineup would be homegrown (and pretty danged good). And if Gary Brown comes up and does what he's supposed to, that's half of a homegrown lineup. Who'd've thunk it? I guess it's not that big of a deal -- they've had 50% homegrown lineups before! -- but they haven't had a good one since the Clark/Williams/Thompson days.

So I probably shouldn't get irrationally attached to a young Giants hitter just because he's a young Giants hitter. This isn't the Todd Linden Era. There have already been some great hitters who came up through the farm. Probably should just evaluate each prospect on his own merits and consider where he fits into the organizational plan, not based on an antiquated notion of how the Giants are cursed when it comes to developing hitters.

With that in mind, then, here's what I expect Gary Brown to do:

• Hit for average. I'd like to think that a .290/.340/.440 projection for his peak isn't too much of an overly optimistic fanboy thing
• Steal 50 to 60 bases with a high success rate
• Play center field like a wizard on Adderall

And here's what I expect Zack Wheeler to do:

• Pitch really, really well

The set of expectations for Brown is exotic and mysterious. It's like reading the lurid descriptions of the natives in a piece of colonial literature. So different. So compelling. You can picture whatever you want in your head. A leadoff/center-type like that is something that the Giants haven't seen since the days of Brett Butler, but this one would have better defense. Andres Torres's best year, but with average and more vrrrooom. He doesn't just have a chance to be a "good homegrown hitter" -- he'd be a different species of "good homegrown hitter."

Wheeler might be just as valuable. Could be more valuable. You can get out your WAR calipers and measure away, and if you prefer Wheeler, well, you could be right. There's a reason why he's generally rated higher on the prospect lists that are coming out. But I've seen good pitching. It's fantastic. That grass on the other side of the fence seems greener, though. Imagine! A speedy defensive wunderkind who can get on base a little bit!

I'm hoping that a) Brown starts at AAA this year, b) he tears the place up, and c) that Angel Pagan hits and fields well enough where the Giants don't have to bring up Brown until September. The Giants' farm system is the antonym of exciting, other than the depth of good catching prospects. But Brown is one of the exceptions, and I'm glad he's still on the Giants.

Having Wheeler at the same time would be pretty cool too, dammit, but I'll write about that another time. I have a reminder about it and everything.

Been too long since one of these, and it beats me FanShotting something pointless. I've done this before, but it's always a good discussion starter: first ten songs on shuffle for your music contraption of choice.

Marvin Gaye - Little Darling
Bob Marley - Get Up, Stand Up
Grateful Dead - Jack-A-Roe
Dandy Warhols - Get Off
Kid Koala - Basin Street Blues
Clipse - Dirty Money
Overkill - Bare Bones
DJ Krush - Blank
Thao - Body
31 Knots - Imitation Flesh

No cheating. First ten, embarrassing or not.

Say, you know what kind of stinks about this offseason? The constant stream of farewell posts. We just swept up the ticker tape, and we're already that much closer to being balding, paunchy nostalgia-fetishists waiting in line for a "20th Anniversary 2010 World Champions Hover-Bobblehead." The hover part is because it will be the future, stupid.

But where there was once a starting outfield for a World Series-winning team, there's now a bunch of farewell posts. Fare thee well, Pat. Don't forget to take your penicillin. Best wishes, Andres. You'll be missed. And now Cody Ross goes gentle into that obnoxious night, signing with the Boston Red Sox. Maybe it's not disappointment we're feeling this offseason; maybe it's melancholy.

Well, maybe a little disappointment too. But there's some melancholy.

Without the prism of nostalgia, here's what Cody Ross represents: a time when the Giants were willing to say, sure, we'll take that player. We'll eat the money. Not sure just where we'll use him if we get the guy, but whatever. Should help us win the division either way. We just want to win.

Without the benefit of 100 different things towards the end of 2010 -- I'll just pick the Cubs winning two different 1-0 games against the Padres to make a point -- here's what Cody Ross represents: the curious piece of trivia in which the last two people in the world who thought Jose Guillen had anything left as a baseball player happened to work for the same company. And to think, one of them wasn't Jose Guillen.

Knowing what we know now, here's what Cody Ross represents: the unlikeliness of it all; baseball; cheering; hugging someone you don't know at some urine-misted sports bar; that moment when you start thinking "maybe, just maybe"; an invincible pitcher whipping his head around on two separate occasions to watch the flight of a pitch he wish he had back; people descending the 1% grade that leads from the upper concourse at AT&T Park and screaming exultations about what they just saw and what they could see; annoyed Phillies fans. It's all there.

Cody Ross is the line drive that got over Bobby Richardson, the Bobby Bonds sac fly in the sixth inning of the NLCS, the sliding catch from Candy Maldonado, the nasty slider that Scott Speizio couldn't touch, and Jose Cruz, Jr. squeezing the glove. Cody Ross, folks. One of the greatest players to ever play baseball, so long as your definitions are clear.

Here's another thing Cody Ross represents: a pretty danged useful player. I'd rather have him in center with Andres Torres, giving Brandon Belt and Nate Schierholtz time off against tough lefties, than the current alignment. The extra savings would go toward ... heck, something. A free Marco Scutaro with proof of purchase, at least. I think there was a way for Ross to make the 2012 Giants better.

I don't blame the Giants for this one. I think if Ross and his agent knew that he'd be getting a time-sharing gig for a year and $3 million, the Giants might have been interested. Instead, we heard about three-year fantasies and starting gigs. It was pretty clear that he wasn't going to get a huge deal even before the season ended. Sure wish things would have worked out differently.

If I'm reading this thing right, it sort of looks like the new Cody Ross is Brett Pill, who can barely play left, much less center. I guess either Justin Christian or Gregor Blanco might make the roster. I'd probably prefer Ross, even if it's in that I'm-expecting-him-to-drink-straight-from-the-carton-so-it-isn't-so-bad kind of way. Familiarity counts for something.

But look at us, living in the present, crying about the recent past at the expense of the less-recent past. Cody Ross isn't about the 2012 Giants. He's about the 2010 Giants, the 1993 Giants, the 1986 Giants, the 1962 Giants, and all points in between. The Giants opened 2010 with Mark DeRosa in left, Aaron Rowand in center, and John Bowker in right. The 2012 outfield is totally different. And by some stroke of providence, so was the outfield in October of 2010. Ross on another team makes everything seem that much more distant.

Just thinking about Cody Ross, though, makes it seem anything but distant. That's why he'll never have to buy a drink in San Francisco again. That's why he'll never have to buy one in Philadelphia, either, but only because it'll get poured on him. Anyone can write a 10,000-word essay on the 2010 season, but they could also just write "Cody Ross", drop the mic, and let you write the essay in your own head.

Cody Ross.

Looks like Cody Ross Day will have to wait. From Henry Schulman:

Timmy gets two years, $40.5 million

What this means:

1. Tim Lincecum will be here for the next two years
2. You knew that
3. Well, okay, then.

But while you're right to be scared about things like this tweet ...

Lincecum and #SFGiants still far apart on long deal, like 2-3 yrs and maybe $80M-plus. good to avoid arb tho

... it's not necessarily a bad thing that the Giants and Lincecum didn't agree on a long-term deal. From a cold analytical perspective, a two-year deal for a pitcher -- no matter how good -- is always, always, always preferable than a six- or seven-year deal, save an ability to look into the future, which I'm told you can do if you snort some of the pineapple chunks from a Cha Cha Bowl. No, seriously, try it.

Worst-case scenario: Lincecum is on the Giants for two more years. Oh, there are ways to flesh out the details of that worst-case scenario. There's no point in speaking them aloud, such as a division rival getting new owners who will be looking to spend money to make a big ol' statement, but in that worst-case scenario, the Giants have two more years of Tim Lincecum.

The upside to waiting, though, is that the Giants get to watch Lincecum for two more years before deciding what to pay him. A rebound to his '08/'09 form? A year of August 2010s? Something like last year? All of those pitchers get vastly different deals. And based on that Heyman tweet up there, it looks like the Giants offered a 5/$100M deal, or something similar, and Lincecum's camp countered with something like 8/$180M, which would be a bananers deal. Even if that tweet is off by 33%, it would still be a crazy, risky contract.

If Lincecum is someone capable of staying healthy and otherworldly -- and I have no real reason to doubt that he can -- then the Giants will have quite the scrum of rich teams jostling for position after 2013. The good news is that Lincecum's not going to cut them any deals either. If the Giants really want to pay Tim Lincecum hundreds of millions of dollars for over a half-decade, they'll still have their chance.

Pretend that Lincecum was already a super-free-agent. He's on the market already, courting, dining, and negotiating. There are rumors. There are rumors of the rumors. There is that guy that knows a guy who didn't want to tweet this but here goes. The Yankees are in. The rumor du jour is six years, $155 million. Can the Giants top it? Will they? Someone with knowledge of the organization's thinking about a source close to Lincecum says that the Giants are willing to come over the top. Seven years, $180 million. Chaos. Looting. Horrible Barry Zito jokes.

Then after all of that, the announcement is made: Tim Lincecum signs. Two years, $40.5 million. Imagine how giddy you'd be. Imagine how reasonable that would seem, what little risk there would be. It would seem like a coup.

That's where the Giants are right now. Not a bad place to be, all told. The merits and pitfalls of a super-deal to Tim Lincecum can be explored later. Right now the Giants can busy themselves by destroying those Lincecum-has-halitosis dittos they were running off for the arbitration hearing.

Lincecum's around for two years, at least. It's cool if you think of it like that.