Ordonez in 2011

As we all know, the Giants outfield was an interesting mixture of the untested, the mediocre, and the unwanted. On Opening Day we had Mark DeRosa, Aaron Rowand, and John Bowker manning the grass in Houston. By the time that fateful night in November rolled around, Pat Burrell, Andres Torres, and Cody Ross were standing in the small confines of the outfield in Arlington. However, an issue presents itself.

At the beginning of the season, the San Francisco outfield was thought to be a mediocre unit at best. Bruce Bochy, he of the oft questioned maneuvers, was reluctant to play Andres Torres. Torres had been given 170 PA to prove his worth to the Giants going forward. In that span, he hit .270/.343/.533. That excellent production combined with equally excellent defense resulted in 2 fWAR in such a small sampling. Surely that would cause some scrambling in the on-field brain trust. But no. None of that happened. Bochy decided to name the ever unproductive and overpayed Aaron Rowand in center field. Torres provided excellent production of the bench. With Rowand being Rowand, Torres eventually took the starting job in center field.

He was phenomenal in the starting role. All told, he produced a .268/.343/.479 (.363 wOBA) line in 2010. That offensive production combined with extraordinary defense resulted in a 6 fWAR season. That mark was only topped by the supernatural Josh Hamilton. Torres undoubtedly has the center field job locked down for 2011 (dear God I hope so). Rowand will hopefully and likely be riding the pine as the most expensive bench player in baseball. One spot down, two left.

Right field was an adventure throughout the 2010 season. Literally. At the beginning of the season we had John Bowker, an up-and-coming outfielder with a decent ability to get on base. His skills didn't translate in the bigs, and thus was Bochy'd and another wasted young talent was inserted into the outfield puzzle. Nate Schierholtz held down the fort in right field, with a cameo appearance by Aubrey Huff here and there, until August. During the August waiver trade period, the Giants essentially bought the NLCS MVP from Florida. Cody Ross was a solid addition to the club and should be receiving a contract offer to return to the Giants in 2011. Our right fielder is here to stay for a while. Two spots down, the big one left.

The story in left field was another interesting experiment all the way throughout the season. Mark DeRosa, coming off a season highlighted by a power-sapping wrist injury, was signed to a two year, $12 million dollar deal. At first glance, it seemed like a classic Sabean-type deal: Sign a player well over the hill to a risky contract that could end up tying up the hands of the Giants for the next two seasons. But the DeRosa deal looked as if it could have some value. DeRosa was long known as a supersub that could step in and play every position and hit enough to keep a starting job. Unfortunately, that was not the case. After he was traded to the Cardinals from Cleveland, he suffered another injury to the wrist. This time it required surgery to repair and it cost him his season after 26 games. The Giants were struck with yet another blow to their outfield ship. At around the same time, the Tampa Bay Rays had released their designated hitter, a fellow named Pat Burrell.

Burrell was one of many homegrown stars in Philadelphia. He was the starting left fielder in arguably the worst Major League city for eight years, putting up a .254/.362/.475 with 251 home runs. As such, he was aptly named Pat the Bat. After the Phightins won their first World Title in close to 30 seasons by downing the emerging Tampa Bay Rays, Burrell tested the free agent waters for the first time in his career. That winter, he signed a two year, 16 million dollar deal with the very club he ousted from the 2008 World Series. Burrell's experience in the American League did not go well at all. Over a season and change, Burrell hit .218/.311/.363, a far cry from his Philadelphia days. Tampa Bay decided to cut their losses and released him. The Giants, with coaxing by former college teammate Aubrey Huff, signed Burrell to a minor league deal. Brian Sabean gave him a week in Fresno to work out his kinks and got the call to San Francisco. Needless to say, he was absolute money. He hit .266/.364/.509. Perhaps it was a return to his National League roots that saw his hitting ability return. Either way, Burrell is set to hit the market again after rebuilding his value with the Giants. He may resign with the club or he may part ways. If he parts ways with us, then I wish him good luck. However, we would need to fill the void left by his departure. There are free agents available that can adequately fill his role.

At the top of the outfield market, there are the two big fish: Jayson Werth and Carl Crawford. They would immediately change the way our lineup is looked at. However, with ownership announcing that they will not increase payroll substantially, there are cheaper and interesting options. The option in mind is former AL Central star Magglio Ordonez. Ordonez was having an excellent season before an ankle injury in July ended it prematurely. With all suggestions, there are pros and cons. Let's take a look at them.

Pros:

1) As detailed above, Ordonez could fill the hole in LF.

2) He still has great on-base skills, not having posted an OBP south of .376 in five years.

3) There is still pop left in that bat, and was rebounding from a powerless season in 2009.

4) His agent, the infamous Scott Boras, would want to take this year as a sort of rebuilding value year. This could mean that he would become the versatile type in the same vein that Aubrey Huff played this season. He could play at the outfield corners and first base.

5) He's healthy. Aside from the ankle injury, he's only hit the DL once, and that was back in 2006, when he missed 18 games with an oblique strain.

Cons:

1) Maggs is a man, he's (almost) 40. He'll turn 37 in January.

2) He's a statue in the outfield.

3) With Boras as his agent, he might be commanding a salary north of 8M.

All in all, I believe that the pros outweigh the cons and Ordonez would be an excellent addition to the Giants in 2011. He has that veteran presence our GM and manager are inexplicably in love with, and could add even more thump to the middle of our lineup on a bargain, a la Huff last season.