Long Offseason

It bears repeating: Veterans aren't bad by themselves. If the Giants waved a wand and were able to field a 2007 team of Ivan Rodriguez, Jim Thome, Ray Durham, Omar Vizquel, Jim Edmonds, Barry Bonds, et cetera, it would be a very nice season to be a Giants fan. The idea of rebuilding is exciting mostly for its end goal, which is to field a good team.

Luis Gonzalez isn't a bad player yet; he'd be a useful fourth outfielder. But if he wasn't hitting for power in Arizona, he'll be murderlized in Mays Field. He'd be a sweet lefty bat off the the bench, and he could occasionally take his noodle arm out into left field. As a starting left fielder he'd be a joke of an acquisition. The rules again:

1. Are they good?
2. Would they be blocking a player who could eventually be a part of a young Giants nucleus?

The answer to the first one is a "not really". Gonzalez is getting older, his stats are getting worse, and his arm is toast. The answer to the second one is a resounding yes. Todd Linden seems capable of being an adequate corner outfielder, which would allow the Giants to spend money on other positions. First base, second base, third base, the bullpen...the Giants have plenty of holes. Depending on your feelings about Kevin Frandsen, this is the only open position where the Giants have this luxury.

An outfield of Luis Gonzalez, Dave Roberts, and Randy Winn, with Todd Linden warming the bench again? Pitchfork and torch time. I refuse to believe it all until it happens. When the Giants really started jackknifing into the septic tank last season, Brian Sabean sounded genuinely contrite. The exact quotes escape me, but they were something like: "Look, we built this team in a certain way, and it didn't work. We'll have to reevaluate the organizational philosophy in the offseason."

I'd love to crawl inside Sabean's head this offseason, and figure out if those were genuine sentiments or the passing fancies of a man at rock bottom.

And Happy Halloween. Prairie fires on me.