Oh, say, can you see this guy in our lineup?

The good news is the latest mailbag on sfgiants.com says that the Giants would be willing to go over $85M.  The bad news is that even at $90M, we don't have enough to cover Delgado's salary and the other players the team needs:  MI, #4 starting pitcher, #5 starting pitcher (according to KNBR Hot Stove, Sabean said he's looking for two starting pitchers; why don't they archive these talks anymore?), backup catcher.  We could use Angel Chavez, Hennessey, Correia, and the Other Alfonzo as catcher, but will we be happy with that?

The only way this trade works is if they accept Alfonzo from us, which is doubtful, I have to assume that the other teams can put together a nice package of players.  And obviously we're not trading Cain, so the ones we have to offer probably start with Hennessey, Correia, Niekro, Linden, Valdez, Ortmeier, Lewis and EME, and perhaps include Simon, Wilson, Schierholtz, and Ishikawa, basically we're duplicating the Vida Blue trade, a hunka bunch of unproven prospects in exchange for the one expensive superstar player.

The Giants problem is not paying for stars but in having two stars on the team at once, as they did with Bonds and Williams.  The logic for them is that then you don't have enough money to pay for the rest of the team to be better than average.  They point to 1995 and 1996 and say, "see, don't work."

But they are missing the point, it's not that two stars don't work, it's that there is no baseball team except for the Yankees maybe that can win when any of the stars are injured and out.  That's life and there's no insurance for that.  The Giants ownership and management have just been copping out and saying they want to avoid that risk.  

Well, here's the reality - if they want to avoid the risk, they are in the wrong business, the risk of injury exists at any point in time, you never know when the fastball turns in breaks someone's face bones, you never know when your two CFs crash head-first into each other, you never know when a player will slide in hard and take out your expensive MI.  You take the risk and keep your fingers crossed.  

Thus far, the Angels have looked pretty good with Vlad.  The reality is that he could have been an Albert Belle or Mo Vaughn redux and killed the payroll for the next 5-7 years (don't remember his contract length).  The same could have happened to the Giants with Bonds' contract, if his leg went out in 2002 like it did in 2005, the Giants probably would have stunk pretty bad from 2002-2005.

So, yes, they should be careful with whom they sign, making sure he seems healthy enough.  But we've seen what an injured Durham has done to the offense and a presumably injured and/or aging Alfonzo has done to the offense and then there's Nen, what his absence did to the bullpen while he was out.  The risk is always there with any high-priced free agent we get, but they cannot just go with all youngsters either and be reasonably confident that the team would be competitive, you have to try to balance all the risks.  That's why they make the big bucks.

But despite the best laid plans of mice and GMs, there is always the fickle finger of fate, out there to muss up your plans and send you, post-haste, into the second division.  Fearing that this will happen is no way to manage the roster of the team, if a good player is available, you need to make the leap.

Now, is Delgado that guy to make the leap for?  Heck yeah!  His road stats are great, as well as his RHP stats.  He doesn't play all the games, so he could give up some ABs against LHP to Niekro in a semi-platoon or we could free up Niekro's spot for another backup player if we find that a better option.

The only caveat I would have is that he is probably a one-year rental with sharply depreciating value.  He has said he is happy in Florida and don't want to leave.  I assume he wants to stay near Puerto Rico, which I assume is his home.  Like Vazquez, he can demand a trade from the Giants in one year and, since everyone knows we have to get rid of him, will get lowballed by everyone.  And if we keep him, he could make the clubhouse hell in 2007, don't know what his rep is.  

But sign me up, Barry's Last Year or Bust!  

... but even if we wanted to take on Delgado's salary, I just don't think we have the prospects. As risky as Thome would be, the Phillies would pay a good chunk of his salary and accept lesser prospects. I hope they at least make an effort to get either one of them.

Christ... you mentioned Mark Sweeney... a 36-year-old who just reached his career high in at-bats: 221. And he is the best possible choice out of the names I have heard. These John Mabry rumors are making my ears bleed... how do we make them stop?

i just once want a legit premier hitter along with bonds, even if it doesn't  workout... I will have 5 months to be excited about it
Further, darryl ward is a fat bastard, we think fonzie is a fat ass- this guy looks like he could have eaten tike redman, leading to him being left off fo the Pirates 40 man roster.

Talk about addressing the need for a left handed power hitter and a firstbasemen with Ward, Mabry, or the older less talented Sweeney.  Just what we need lefties who just swing hardly and can barely field.  I thought we were going to address some problem areas this off season, not create them.  I hope I'm wrong, but next year seems like it will be a wash, even in the NL west.  Someone just put me out for 12 months and when I came to just let me know what happened.  JT Snow is still better for a year than anyone they are talking about.  Maybe if we want to give Bonds a ring we should wait till next year when the franchise will feel they have more financial flexability with out his big contract, and Alou, and Alfonzo, and Duhram.  

Or maybe he is really just messing with all of our heads, reading this blog and telling us they are going after all the guys we don't want.  then he pulls something out of his...hat, and we bring in Delgado and find a good pitcher somewhere.  All is well and everyone will think he is a genius.

Doesn't Becket going to the Red Sox make them a favorite to get to and perhaps win the World Series next year?  We can pine after Carlos all we want, but unless we get some real pitching help, we won't win the West, much less make it to the World Series.  With that said, we managed to take a mighty good player from the Marlins (Nen) so here is hoping we can do it again.

Sorry Grant.  Delgado's a Met.  Front page of www.mlb.com  

-D

Here's to 162 games of Darryl Ward's fat ass waddling back to the dugout after a K.

just read on espn that the mets have landed delgado...

what's freaking sad is that the giants weren't even mentioned as one of the teams in the running for him. for all of sabeans moaning and whining about how we need to find a legit left handed bat, and then one stud gets magically inserted into the mediocre group of players out there that fit that bill.....and then the giants don't even make an attempt to go after him.

you'd hope that we'd learned our lesson from the vlad fiasco, but it's starting to become painfully obvious that the giants are more than content with maybe making the playoffs and that's it...they don't really care about making a serious run.

i swear i remember last year magowan saying that he would add money to our payroll in an attempt to win a World Series. Put your money where your mouth is Magowan.

Thome to White Sox on ESPN...