1 millionth rebuilding thread

Bonds ain't coming back, so that's also a dead horse.  Bonds is done as a position player.  By the end of the season, he was a statue in LF and the wear on his knees was clearly affecting him at the plate.  If he stays in baseball, and I wish him the best, it needs to be as a DH in the AL.

What you have left is a choice between way overpriced second tier FA's like Hunter and Jones, dumpster diving for the next Carlos Pena, or giving our own young players a chance.  They played well enough this year to earn that chance.  I'll take door #3, thank you.

Merely after the 2002 season he did so with Kenny Lofton, Reggie Sanders, Bill Mueller, Jeff Kent (already firmly established), Russ Ortiz and Livan Hernandez.

It's at DH, which the National League rarely has, but the past two seasons Billy Beane has gotten Frank Thomas and Jack Cust for peanuts -- only to see both post an OPS over .900.

A situation that galled me came before the 2004 season when Brian signed Mike Matheny as a free agent.  Brian ended the 2003 season with a good platoon that was much younger than Matheny (and sadly, less concussed, as it turned out).

Yes, the Giants perhaps DID need to get rid of AJ Pierzynski, the lefty-hitting, less defensive part of the platoon (I say platoon,although AJ was the clear #1 man.)  But that the Giants did so without offering AJ arbitration was merely another indication of a Sabean deficiency.  We all know what Brian traded to get AJ -- and that he wound up with NOTHING (He knows NOTHING, in Jim Cramer language? :) just a year later.

But then Brian compounded his error by signing Mike Matheny, just the opposite of what the Giants needed as a complement to good-fielding, questionable-hitting, righthanded-batting Yorvit Torrealba.  

Yes, I realize I could be considered guilty of putting the cart before the horse here.  But who is the starting catcher for one of the four teams still alive in the playoffs now? If Yorvit had steered clear of shoulder problems that have limted both his playing time and effectiveness the past two years, he likely would be even better than he is (which is good, not great).  And perhaps if Yorvit had stayed with the Giants, he WOULD have avoided his shoulder problems (which began with an injury suffered lifting weights).

The idea platoon partner for Yorvit was available -- and at a much lesser price than Matheny.  That player was platoon catcher deluxe, Gregg Zaun, Bengie Molina's partner a year ago.  The Giants paid Matheny over $9 million for three years.  Zaun was signed to a minor-league contract.

Sometimes it isn't possible to get the player you want (or worse, the player you need, regardless of whom you want) for a position.  But that doesn't mean you can't get TWO players to platoon effectively at the position.  This seems a particularly viable solution behind the plate, where few catchers catch over 120 games a season regardless of how good they are.  At no position is a good backup more important than behind the dish.

So the question arises?  Does Brian truly know how to construct a roster?  Two winters ago he said he wanted to improve the Giants OBP -- then signed Jose Vizcaino as his utlity infielder.  Not surprisingly, Jose was released before completing even his one-year pact.  Oh, and the Giants have finished second-worst and tied for third-worst in the majors in OBP the past two seasons -- DESPITE having the best OBP guy in the majors (a player who was handed to Brian his first day on the job).

Of course, Bonds is also still one of the top power hitters in the majors (finishing tied for 11th in the majors in SLG this past season, even at age 43).  Yet the Giants were tied for sixth-worst SLG in the majors in 2006 and slipped to the very bottom this past season.

How was it that Brian came to be re-signed this past season again?  :)

But generally, I agree with you. Play the kids at OF and 2B; try to come up with at least one solid prospect (of whatever position) in a Lowry trade; and go dumpster diving for whatever holes are left over (1B/3B/SS). It ain't rocket science, folks.

WTF does Pena has to do with Choi? They were both once young 1b prospects?