A lot of this article covers the same ground as Irwin's critical darling of a diary, Giants Chalk Talk, but it's worth reviewing. Taking points from the article one by one:
"I believe it's going to be a tough year to satisfy your needs on the free-agent market." - Brian Sabean
Agreed. Of the starting pitchers worth getting excited about - Millwood, Morris, Burnett, Washburn - I'll guess only one will be worth the contract they receive. The others will fight through what most pitchers fight through; ineffectiveness and injury. I'd rather take a chance on a short-term guy like Paul Byrd, Jaime Moyer, or - if you're drinking something right now, swallow - Kevin Brown than pick a name out of a hat to take for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, for the next four years.
If the Giants want to solve their power gap through free agency, they can look at Paul Konerko, Paul Konerko, or take a $40M gamble on Paul Konerko. I'm scared of his potential to Edgardoplode at the age of 30, especially going from a fine hitter's park to Mays Field, so it stands that we should all be paralyzed with fear at the thought of a 34/35-year old Konerko doing nothing to help the Giants for millions of dollars. I wouldn't be crushed if the Giants pulled off that deal, but I would be very, very nervous about the future.
...Sabean expressed doubts about the Giants' marketability. "I've got to be a realist. I hope we have some credibility from our past, but our present isn't too attractive. I hope these folks still want to come to San Francisco."
Let's enter that into the G.M. Translatron 4.1, and see what comes up....
Besides, Sabean expressed doubts about the Giants' marketability. "I've got to be a realist. This team stinks. No one in their right mind would want to play for us. The only guys who would are people who grew up around here and want to go home, but Gregg Jefferies and Keith Hernandez are both ignoring my calls."
The frank admission by Sabean is pretty discouraging. That's the quote of a man who doesn't see a rainbow after this particular storm. The real one, that is. Not the fake one. Quote, that is. Not the rainbow.
"We do need more production from our first-base spot" - Sabean
Other than 1997 and 2004, this sentence could have been uttered every year since Will Clark left. There is always going to be a spot in my heart for a Giant like J.T. Snow, but reading this sentence warms that same heart. The problem is, though, the options are limited. Overpay someone like Konerko or Jim Thome, make do with someone like Travis Lee or Daryle Ward, or trade the farm for a guy like Overbay or Huff. It would be so much easier if a guy like Albert Pujols or Derrek Lee were on the market.
Five (Giants) Who Won't Be Back:
...
3B Edgardo Alfonzo: Do the Giants really want a $7 million backup infielder?
No. No they don't. But the alternatives to that scenario are:
- Someone else would consciously decide to bring a $7 million backup infielder on their team.
- The Giants would pay $7 million to have him be a backup infielder for someone else.
Unless the Giants include him in a trade to bring back another stupid contract, he'll be back.
