Some introductory notes:
- Brandon Belt would be #3 if he were on the 40-man roster.
- Players like Freddy Sanchez and Aubrey Huff are tricky to rank, as they’d bring back something decent if the Giants were willing to eat a few million. This list assumes that the Giants don’t eat a dollar.
- I put more thought into this list than you might think -- it’s not like I came up with it between Call of Duty rounds as I was drinking. Of course not. Well, maybe. But it’s also obviously the work of an uninformed amateur. A GM could read this and giggle because he’d give up his top prospect for the low-ranked Emmanuel Burriss. Maybe.
- The purpose of this list is to be one big ol’ comment starter. It’s not a given that I’d rather have Sergio Romo on my team over Cody Ross, but when you consider how long it will be before both players are free agents, I think Romo would fetch a lot more than Ross.
A ranking like this is a balance of service time, salary, and present-day value -- a delicate balance that only an expert blogger should even attempt. Don’t you dare try this on your own. I’ve built my stamina and resolve by pulling things out of my butt for years. Doing a ranking this arbitrary and frivolous without training would be like running a marathon to begin an exercise program. - The toughest player to rank -- Miguel Tejada -- is also the only one the Giants can’t trade yet. I thought about leaving him off the list in order to cheat. I sincerely doubt that another team would touch him without the Giants kicking in some clams. Otherwise, that team would have just signed Tejada, right? Come July, though, it’s possible that Tejada’s trade value would be akin to Ray Durham’s last year with the Giants, which brought back Darren Ford, which brought the vrrroooooom, which brought the Giants a division title, which brought a World Series victory. I always liked that Ray Durham.
Now onto the list that absolutely no one has been clamoring for:
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- Buster Posey
- Tim Lincecum
- Matt Cain
- Madison Bumgarner
- Pablo Sandoval
- Brian Wilson
- Jonathan Sanchez
- Andres Torres
- Sergio Romo
- Francisco Peguero
- Thomas Neal
- Jose Casilla
- Cody Ross
- Dan Runzler
- Ehire Adrianza
- Javier Lopez
- Aubrey Huff
- Pat Burrell
- Santiago Casilla
- Jeremy Affeldt
- Freddy Sanchez
- Nate Schierholtz
- Ryan Rohlinger
- Mike Fontenot
- Ramon Ramirez
- Clayton Tanner
- Conor Gillaspie
- Alex Hinshaw
- Steve Edlefsen
- Travis Ishikawa
- Emmanuel Burriss
- Henry Sosa
- Darren Ford
- Eli Whiteside
- Miguel Tejada
- Mark DeRosa
- Aaron Rowand
- Barry Zito
For a prospect who might rank in the top fifteen or twenty of the organization they're leaving, or as a part of a package for a major leaguer you’ve heard of.
Here be the land of cash considerations and players to be named later
Just take him. No? Well, here’s, like, three to thirty million dollars or so. How about now? No? Well, double it. We'll just leave him here.
Also of note: SF Giants.com has 38 players on the Giants' 40-man roster. There's room for a spring training surprise or two.