September first! Expanded rosters! Alright, now, let's take a look at the prospects who are going to be called up. First and foremost, there is Matt Cain. Now Cain is the brightest star in the Giants...
Oh. Right. He's already on the team. Well, let's take a look at the other prospects.
Oh. Right. There's Adam Shabala. That's not exciting. Maybe Brian Burres will peek his head in. It's a good thing I'm not the general manager, as I'd probably promote players like Marcus Sanders just to amuse myself.
Onto the topic of the day, which is Scott Eyre. Eyre wants to stay a Giant. The Giants want to keep Eyre. The Giants will most likely resign him, as they'll have the advantage of the adopted hometown discount and few other free-agent priorities. Other than a starting pitcher, the Giants probably aren't going to need to spend much to bring anyone in. If there were a long-term solution for first base out there, things would be different. As it stands, there's Snow and Mientkiewicz, pray for, uh, rain-kiewicz? The future of first base is not on the open market this offseason.
So, the Giants can concentrate on retaining Eyre, which is great. Kind of. Eyre has been worth his weight in arugala this year, becoming a trusted non-platoon late reliever. He's not pitching like a sample-size fluke either, as the armchair observations match with the excellent statistics. If this is the real Scott Eyre, and there is no real reason to be cynical about his success, he would be a good part of the interesting bullpen the Giants are building.
However, I'm forced to trot out the tired legend of Alan Embree, who has had what can be considered a typical reliever's career. He's good! He's bad! He's great! He's awful! He's good! He's hurt! He's a floor wax! No, he's a dessert topping! Embree was, for a season with the Giants, one of the top five lefty specialists in the game. A long term deal after that season would have looked disastrous for a couple of years, and a bargain after that. You never know with relievers.
It isn't that I don't specifically trust Eyre, it's that I don't trust all but a handful of relievers. Billy Wagner, I trust. Mariano Rivera, I trust. Tim Worrell and Dustin Hermanson I trust until they start speaking in terms of multi-year pacts. Eyre falls under the latter category.
What is the maximum amount you would give? If pressed, I would give a $10M, three-year deal and hate myself in the morning.