A few things I didn't know about Edgardo Alfonzo until this trade:
1. He's relatively overpaid.
2. He's inconsistent.
3. His decline from All-Star status was nearly as pronounced as Finley's.
You learn something every day.
The Anaheim partisans and bloggers are giddy, roundly giving the deal two thundersticks up. I'm terribly sorry they had to watch a painful performance from a player for one whole season. That must have been terrible. Enjoy Alfonzo, Southern California. Enjoy him to the last drop. There is no injury that can explain away just how awful he was, and his age-related decline started when he was about 29. He's truly an artist, both at the plate and around the bag at second. Unfortunately, the artist is Robert Mapplethorpe, and you don't want to know where that bullwhip is going. You think you might get used to it, but you never do.
While writing this post, I noticed Jeff Cirillo had a decent part-time role for the Brewers last year. If Alfonzo ever, ever, ever has a productive season after leaving the Giants, I will take his mother - Dorothy Alfonzo - out for a nice seafood dinn...you get the idea.