The official Giants website is running a bunch of positional previews for the upcoming season, and the title of the latest article is "Giants could have spirited battle at second base."
First reaction: Why? Ray Durham had his first down year in a decade, so it isn't completely ludicrous to think it was an aberration. He'll be 36, though, and it isn't as if 36-year-old second basemen need to give a written warning before their offensive performance neifastasizes. And, really, last season he looked as lost at the plate as any player I've ever seen. There is no earthly reason he should get a starting job over one of the few under-30 Giants with a modicum of promise.
Second reaction, and I know that I'm not the first one to think of this: This isn't really a choice between Ray Durham and Kevin Frandsen; it's a choice between Ray Durham and Pedro Feliz. If the Giants don't sign Feliz, they'll most likely go with Frandsen at third. And where Durham had his first down year in a decade, Feliz had his third straight wretched year at the plate. There are other considerations - defensive statistics say that Pedro Feliz is as valuable as some sort of cyborg-George Brett, or some crap, and Frandsen's defensive development might be stunted by a move to third - but there are a lot of reasons to choose Durham over Feliz.
Third reaction: This offseason has been like watching a loop of The English Patient on the plane ride to Hell. Boredom upon boredom before the eternal torment: Our lot has been cast. This is really what we have to talk about a month before pitchers and catchers report? A question asking if we prefer Durham's carcass to Feliz's carcass? Yeesh.
Anyways, consider this an Open Keep Durham over Feliz Thread. Dissenters will be shunned, mocked, and then reshunned. As long as Frandsen gets at-bats, I'm happy. And, yes, I'm aware of how pathetic that last sentence must read to fans of other teams.