Now that Nick Johnson is signed...

what’s a number that’s less than 0? because that’s the chance. like -15% or so.

I really don’t want any of those guys.

oh and I like the LF/utility designation ’cuz I wacky parse that as Futility

I wouldn’t mind a trade for Lyle Overbay. The Blue Jay 1b is on the final year of his deal and is due $7M in 2010. Prior to winter meetings there was scuttlebutt that the Jays were looking to unload Overbay. With the Jay’s recent acquisition of Brett Wallace to play 1b Overbay should defintely be available.

What is an Overbay worth?

Some players Giants should consider from the bargain bin would be Troy Glaus. Carlos Delgado, Scotty Pods, Russell Brayan. Juan Uribe

LaRoche and Uggla are probably the best options

And Derosa if we can get him at an end of the offseason bargain.

I’m going to bed, and it sure would be refreshing to see in the morning!

Have we completely given up on the idea of throwing our hat into the Adrian Gonzalez ring now?

I tried to factor in everything, or as much as I could, here, to produce my current top 19 targets (it just worked out that way, I didn’t pick that number):

1. Dan Uggla – 30 HR power, his RH bat would play well in AT&T. Caveat: costs prospects as well as a premium salary, so only willing to give up a “meh” prospect or two.
2. Milton Bradley – Bad contract swap of Rowand for Bradley makes a lot of sense for both sides; Cubs have to pay more overall, but not a lot more per year, and get something back. Giants dump a bad contract for a worse attitude, but have had considerable experience dealing with talented prima donnas (see: Barry Bonds). Besides, we need offense in the worst way, and beggars can’t exactly be choosers.
3. B.J. Upton – Great buy-low option; of course, the Rays are shrewd and realize he’s still a great player even if he had a down year in 2009. Would likely cost premium prospects, but he’s not expensive yet.
4. Lyle Overbay – Good OBP and power, decent contract, Blue Jays are selling and would rather dump the $7M than keep the production. Same caveat as Uggla, and again therefore only worth a “meh” prospect or two.
5. Carl Crawford – No reason for the Rays to trade him other than the fact that he’s making $10M in 2010 (and is worth every penny) and is a FA in 2011, so it’s now, soon, or never to get something back. All-around fantastic OF, but very, VERY expensive prospect-wise in a trade.
6. Ryan Garko – Adam LaRoche’s equal offensively, though not as good defensively. However, he won’t make nearly as much money as LaRoche, and isn’t a long-term commitment, as Sabean showed by non-tendering him. It would be pretty weird if we re-signed him, but now that Johnson’s gone he’s an attractive option.
7. Travis Ishikawa – Power improved as last season went on, great defense at first base, still making major league minimum. If you’re going to get “meh” production, you might as well pay as little as possible for it.
8. Ryan Doumit – Down year in 2009 is another buy-low opportunity, and the Pirates don’t seem to be as good as the Rays in trade situations (but they can obviously still outfox Sabean, though that’s not particularly impressive). C/1B means he can spell Posey and Ishikawa, potentially solving the backup catcher and offensive addition problems at once. He’s going to cost more than Sanchez, though.
9. Josh Willingham – Again, expensive in a trade, but a .367 OBP and .496 SLG would look great in the cleanup spot. Not great defensively, but definitely worth more than he’ll be paid, and the Nats would be stupid not to field offers. Two more years of team control mean he’s a valuable guy, which is good and bad.
10. Joe Crede – Injury history and ???? drives down his price (even with Boras as his agent, the guy does not seem to get good contracts), making a minor-league invite not out of the question. Good defense, decent to bad offense. Basically a much less expensive and slightly worse Adrian Beltre.
11 Adam LaRoche – Good hitter, good defender, not worth $30M over 3 years. If he were looking for something in the neighborhood of 2/12-14, a solid acquisition. But likely overpaid for only decent production given his position.
12. Juan Uribe – Good defense at second base last year; even with surprising offensive year in 2009, he can’t command a huge contract. But it’s likely 2009 was a fluke given his age and previous production, and there’s a good chance whoever picks him up will overpay for a replacement level player.
13. Johnny Damon – Still a little speedy, still hits well, doesn’t defend well, a multi-year deal with an NL club isn’t a good idea due to continued defensive regression, Boras likely to get him a good deal. Not a terrible option, just not one worth paying a lot for.
14. Adrian Gonzalez – The big trade market prize, now that Halladay’s in Philly. Team-friendly contract? Check. Great production on both sides of the ball? Mmmhmm. On a team way out of contention, and therefore definitely available? Yup. Ridiculously expensive (trade talks here start with Bumgarner and/or Posey)? You bet. Gonzalez would be a wonderful acquisition, except our farm system goes from #5 to #25 in the process.
15. Orlando Hudson – Probably not much better than Uribe, and certainly not enough to justify the considerable discrepancy between what they’ll make in 2010. Like Crede and Uribe, not worth anything more than a one-year deal.
16. Jonny Gomes – Great power hitter, though surely benefited from the Cincinnati bandbox. Absolute butcher in the field, however, so likely a DH type. Possible he could survive AT&T’s small LF, but unlikely; there’s a reason the Reds non-tendered his .541 SLG.
17. Adrian Beltre – Has been a great hitter in the past, always stellar defense. But he’s on the wrong side of 30, and his agent is Boras, so he’ll likely be too expensive even with decent offense and great defense. Age and declining offense are also warning signs against a multi-year deal. A good option if you want to pay $10M for replacement level production in four years.
18. Mark DeRosa – Utility is good, decent hitter. But not a strong defender at any of the six positions he plays, and likely to get a contract out of proportion to his production, which isn’t good. Should probably stay away from this one, except to drive up the bidding if another NL West team gets involved.
19. Brad Hawpe – Better than Gomes offensively, just as bad defensively, would cost prospects as well as money, intra-division trade so more expensive than normal, available only because the Rockies have a glut of outfielders and can stand to trade one, but have explicitly said they don’t need to and therefore won’t for less than his perceived worth (which is much higher than his actual worth). Only go here if you’re totally out of options.

Other, not mentioned because they don’t make sense/aren’t available – Prince Fielder (Brewers have a shot at the NL Central/Wild Card next year, and need Fielder’s DINGERZ; asking price of somewhere around Matt Cain is rather high considering Cain’s contract and despite Fielder’s production), Miguel Olivo (worse than Bengie), Bengie Molina (is Bengie), Hank Blalock (just a big pile of nothing; hasn’t had a good year since 2004), Marlon Byrd (numbers away from Arlington don’t bode well for a new team), Russell Branyan (breakout season at age 34 is…odd, 31 HR going to be overvalued on the market), Carlos Delgado (he’s 38, he was hurt last year, though he’s likely the best of this group), Miguel Tejada (he’s 36, or maybe not; I’m scared he’s due for serious regression and will saddle some poor team with a deal paying way too much), Melvin Mora (he’s 38, and there are a lot of better options), Jason Bay and Matt Holliday (too expensive), Scott Podsednik (seriously?), Jermaine Dye (SERIOUSLY?), Vladimir Guerrero (SERIO-, well not THAT bad, but defense is scary, and hackertude unnecessary in already OBP-starved lineup).

Don’t mind (at reasonable price): LaRoche, Delgado, Overbay, Glaus, Uggla, Damon

Don’t want: Beltre, DeRosa, Posednik, Dye, Hudson, Gomes, Blalock, Crede.

Hopefully we’ll sign a couple from the top list but I’m skeptical and think we’ll sign at least one from the bottom list.

When has Lyle Overbay (other than on McCC) been connected to the Giants?

Tanner and Wilmin Rodriguez for Uggla and AAAA mulch (F-Lew/Frandsen/Ishikawa/Pill/Bond) for Overbay. Anything more is not worth it. We’d be taking on around $14M in salary, so the major benefit to the trades might be that it forces the team to go with Posey at C and Bumgarner in the rotation.

2:13pm: A source tells Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com that a deal sending Uggla to the Giants is “not going down.”