There was one free agent left who could have possibly made a big impact on the Giants lineup, but even that would have taken a huge leap of faith, With Nomar Garciaparra gone to the Dodgers, it looks like the offense we see right now is going to be the offense we get. It's not an awful offense. It's certainly not a great offense. If Barry Bonds, Ray Durham, and Moises Alou can stay healthy for the entire season, the Giants have a shot to put a good number of runs on the board. Also, if Bonds, Durham, and Alou can stay healthy for the entire season, the magnetic poles will reverse and the moon will cry tears of blood. But anything's possible.
A strong bench would help things. Mark Sweeney is a good start to the bench, should the Giants find another first baseman, and either Dan Ortmeier or Todd Linden can provide switch-hitting pop from the bench. The possibilities for backup catcher and shortstop will become more defined after the arbitration deadline. Hoping for a strong bench is about all we can hope for at this point to improve the offense. There are teams in worse shape. Having a 50% chance of seeing 70% of Bonds 80% of the time is hardly something a perfect team has to count on, but it allows for some hope.
Here's a look back at a few of the first basemen who went to teams other than the Giants, and who might have improved the Giant lineup:
Jim Thome
Would have helped:
Possibly a lot, but with serious potential to be bad.
Was traded for:
A youngish starting centerfielder, and two better-than-Merkin pitching prospects.
Was he worth it:
If a team had a surplus of the above and a need for left-handed power, sure.
Could the Giants have matched the offer:
No way.
Brad Wilkerson
Would have helped:
Depended on which Wilkerson showed up, but he would have been a pretty substantial roster improvement.
Was traded for:
One of the decade's most overrated players. It wasn't even a one-for-one swap, as the Nationals had to throw a little more in the pot.
Was he worth it:
For the Rangers, he sure was. It was a bizarro move for the Nationals to swap a leftfielder for a second baseman, in the hopes the ridiculously expensive second baseman can play leftfield against his will. Bra-vo, Mr. Bowden. Braaa-vo.
Could the Giants have matched the offer:
Alfonso Soriano is a rich man's Pedro Feliz, but is considered to be a great slugger by a few select goofs. The general manager of the Nationals is one of those goofs. The Giants do not have a great slugger, imagined or otherwise, that would have held the same value as Soriano.
Sean Casey
Would have helped:
Eh. He's got a fairly nice on-base percentage, but no power. He would have been an improvement on Sweeney/Niekro, but just barely. Certainly not for the money he's going to get.
Was traded for:
An average to below-average starting pitcher, with the Reds eating a little bit of salary.
Was he worth it:
No. Especially for a team in the Pirates position, though the hometown aspect makes for a nice story.
Could the Giants have matched the offer:
Almost certainly. Given the choice of the roster as is, or a roster with an addition of Sean Casey as the only change, I would prefer to have Sean Casey on the Giants. As long as he didn't foul up future budgets or in-season roster acquisitions, he'd bring decent on-base skills to the lineup, and allow Sweeney to come off the bench. But Casey makes way too much money to not foul up budgets, and he would have made the Giants think twice about trading for anything in the middle of the season. Add in the idea that the Giants would have had to give something back in trade, and it's a good thing they passed.
Carlos Delgado
Would have helped:
Oh. Oh my, yes.
Was traded for:
A pitching prospect held in high regard by a lot of folks, but who isn't universally loved by scouts.
Was he worth it:
Yes. It wasn't much for the Mets to give up, especially considering the Marlins threw some cash back in the deal.
Could the Giants have matched the offer:
I'm pretty confident the Giants could have made up ground on the Mets offer with a quantity over quality package. However, if there were another serious contender for Delgado's services the Mets might have upped their offer, and the Mets had more ammunition to do so.
Lyle Overbay
Would have helped:
He's no star, but he would have helped this year's team.
Was traded for:
A young, league-average type starter, a useful young outfielder, and a pretty good pitching prospect.
Was he worth it:
Not really.
Could the Giants have matched the offer:
In theory, they might have been able to. They were right not to, however. The package given up by Toronto was superior to a theoretical Giants offer of Brad Hennessey, Dan Ortmeier, and Merkin Valdez, and that would have been a very iffy trade for the Giants. The Brewers got a good haul for a player who would not necessarily have been a huge improvement over Sweeney/Niekro.
Of the above, the only player the Giants might have had a shot at and who would have been a desirable acquisition was Delgado. He is still owed a silly sum of cash, so the Giants might have been wary of the commitment. The Marlins might have wanted something more majors-ready than the Giants could provide, and Delgado might not have wanted to even come to the West Coast. But he was the Giants best chance at something more than a Band-Aid, and the Giants were fools if they didn't even consi...
Damn it. I got so excited typing that, I knocked over my glass of milk. Man, it's everywhere. On the keyboard, all over my work clothes. Why me? Why does this stuff always happen to me? I just can't believe this. I have the worst luck.
Uh, where was I? Not sure, but there aren't many options left. If the deals for Wilkerson and Overbay are any indication, the Giants would have no chance at Aubrey Huff. Travis Lee is probably the best of the free agent crop left, and while he wouldn't be the worst thing to happen to the Giants depth, he isn't going to do much for an offense. The Nomar idea was a perfect gamble for the Giants to take, but it was certainly a gamble in both production and health. The grapes are probably sour, and he's probably going to Griffeysplode this year. Yeah, that's what's going to happen. Didn't want the guy anyway.
Hee Seop Choi isn't going to be a Dodger for much longer, and might even be non-tendered. I'd love to know what Brian Sabean thinks about Choi as a player, but my wild guess is Sabean doesn't think that much of him. Hopefully, the Giants would see there isn't much to lose by getting Choi on the cheap. Even if Choi is more Todd Linden than Jim Thome, the Giants really have little to lose by finding out. It isn't the most exciting of hopes for the offseason, but somehow getting Choi is the only thing even close to an exciting move to hope for.
Choi or bust?