Most of the answers....

Should have offered prizes, now that I think of it. Maybe a Tom O'Malley card with my autograph. I'm just scared I'd find it on eBay the next day. The answers:

____'s not a good bet for long-term success, but he knows how to pitch, fields his position well, can take the mound every fifth day, and is capable of throwing 180 generic innings. Damn few teams don't need a guy like that.

Most got this one. Baseball Prospectus nailed the description. At the time, that's exactly what Kirk Rueter was. He was a pitcher who helped a team, but one you could never really trust.

I was doing a local radio show on which talk turned to the Giants' farm system. We were discussing the lack of position players when a number of people called in and read me the riot act for not being high on ____ .

The masses were so starved for a position player prospect, Pedro Feliz actually gave hope to a few fans. Personally, I'm surprised he has done as well as he has, but hitting 30+ homers in AAA will pique the curiosity of a lot of fans. If he had a season in 2001 like he's had in the past three, we would have won the '01 division.

____'s a very easy player to like; a center fielder who can be a league-average hitter while playing acceptable defense is a good thing to have.

Marvin Benard. Easy player to like? Check. A center fielder? Technically, I suppose. League-average hitter? He was at the time. Acceptable defense? Time to reboot Excel.

____ will be at least a reasonable MVP candidate at some point during the next five years.

After I wrote there were no trick questions, I started to wonder if this one would qualify. Upon further review, this was absolutely a trick question. This has to be one of BP's biggest all-time gaffes, and I think they'd admit as much. He didn't come close to being an MVP candidate. He didn't really come close to a starting job. No one got it in the last thread, so I'll still leave this one open.

If you saw ____ play only during 2000 in San Francisco, you'd swear he was the illegitimate child of Stan Musial, Kirby Puckett, and Joe DiMaggio.

The funky run of Terrell Lowery is something I'll refer to until I'm 80. I've never seen a stretch like that from such a random player.

If ____ were in an organization that knew how to teach plate discipline, he might be scary.

This was written after Lance Niekro's professional debut in Salem-Keizer. The sentence still rings painfully true.

____'s trying to build a career as a right-handed Mark Sweeney. (Note: this is an ultra-obscure one)

No one got this, so I'll leave it open. The closest answer was Jeff Ball, primarily due to the obscurity factor. The player in question was one of those outfield pseudo-prospects Giants fans have been accustomed to following. He never reached the majors, and his name sounds like it could be a single-malt scotch.

____ was pitching like Don Knotts on a Ritalin binge for the first half of the season.

Russ Ortiz was awful in the first half of 2000, and that was a pretty good description. In the second half, he turned into the average guy we ended up trading to the Braves.

____ puts forth a hell of an effort with a jerky, awkward motion. Sure, there are successful pitchers who can get away with that, but the stresses this guy is putting on his body are astonishing. I hope he doesn't get hurt before he learns to pull it all together.

I always wondered how Ryan Vogelsong's arm stayed attached until it didn't. He's one of those former prospects I really pull for.

____ is a phenomenal baseball player with few weaknesses. (Note: this one wasn't a Giant at the time)

Oh, what could have been. I can't think of a great recent comp for Edgardo Alfonzo. Chan Ho Park had a more devastating contract, and he never had a peak like Alfonzo's. I can't explain how excited I was when the Giants signed him. They ditched Kent, who was about to enter an age-related decline, and replaced his bat with a nice player in the middle of his peak years. Yay!

The bidding is still open for the MVP candidate and righty-Sweeney questions.