Don't look now but more good news coming out of the rumor mill:

According to John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Giants are interested in Reds third baseman Edwin Encarnacion. Fay considers EE the most likely Red to be traded, with Homer Bailey second on that list. Encarnacion, 26 in January, hit .251/.340/.466 in 582 plate appearances while playing poor defense.

That is outstanding, a younger less defensively gifted version of Pedro Feliz!!! Sabean you devil, keep the good news coming!

Are you kidding? Happy Pete never came close to a .340 OBP. His last year as a Giant he hit .253/.290/.418.

As far as opening day lineup goes, everyone seems to assume Burriss will bat in the eight hole, which makes no sense since he needs to steal 25-30 bases to be valuable on offense. Burriss should bat 7th; for that matter, I'd also rather see Lewis bat third.

I liked what ESPN's Keith Law said:

Signing of Renteria a wise decision by Giants

The signing of Edgar Renteria makes the Giants more competitive in 2009 and probably 2010, but at no cost to the generally bright long-term picture in San Francisco. He doesn't cost them a draft pick and won't be blocking any major prospects. And if you believe that the Renteria of the last two months of the 2008 season, when he hit .299/.340/.493, is closer to his actual level of ability (as he showed up out of shape in spring training and wasn't really in shape until late July), then it's a minor bargain for the Giants.

Yes, the Giants have shortstop Manny Burriss, who hit an unimpressive .283/.357/.329 in limited time in the big leagues in 2008, but has a weak swing and poor pitch recognition that make even that level a near-term high-water mark for him. (His walk rate was partly boosted by appearances in the No. 8 spot, where he'd be pitched around to get to the pitcher.) There's no one else in the Giants' organization who could handle shortstop in 2009, and frankly, they're a little light at second base as well, so they could just as easily sign another shortstop and slide Renteria to second, where he's going to end up in the next few years anyway. If he stays in shape and even hits .280/.330/.440, he'll have trade value next winter or during 2010, as well.

The point worth emphasizing here is the complete change in operating philosophy for the Giants over the past 12 months. GM Brian Sabean and his staff appear committed to a rebuilding project, and are working to fit short-term contention (or at least respectability) into the rebuilding plan, rather than following the old plan of deliberately giving away draft picks and fielding the oldest team permitted under American labor laws. Granted, they could trade Jonathan Sanchez for Jorge Cantu, at which point I'll take it all back, but for now, the glass is half-full.

I'd also flip-flop Winn and Lewis, not like it matters that much at this juncture.

I had no idea that Encarnacion was so bad on defense. I guess playing Sandoval at 3B really isn't that bad of a thing. It's been said before, but they seem better off just resigning Aurilia and letting him hit lefties in a 1B/3B platoon with Ishi and the Panda.

Also, wishful thinking, but I woudn't be totally surprised if what Sabathia is really waiting on is the Giants to unload Rowand's contract so they can afford him... maybe we see something happen with the latter next week?

The Panda? I hadn't heard that one. I'm guessing that's Pablo.

Burriss' comments go a long way for me. The guy has been nothing professional since he hit the bigs, and it just makes you want to pull for him even more.
Also nice to see that Frandsen is toning down his talk about it's being his "time" to play. I really disliked all the jabber last spring when Durham, as poorly as he'd played the year prior, was clearly still the incumbent.

"you’re-the-starting-shortstop-PSYCHE
" -- great stuff, that kind of wordsmithery is why I read this blog. Sabean is such a jerk with these psyche's, and he does it so often, you gotta figure it's a negotiating ploy: "We'll fool those agents into thinking we've got position X filled".

I noticed no Pedro Alvarez on the prospects list. Others from the recent draft are on the list, but Alvarez was the consensus #1 prospect from the draft...so his contract dispute apparently made him a worse baseball player...

That lineup, while it still needs improving for us to become real contenders, is a significant upgrade over our typical lineup from last year.

Everyone keeps on talking about trading Rowand. I don't understand it.

Also, doesn't he have a NO TRADE clause?

If all stays as it is, here are my lineups for opening day:

If Sheets or another Righty is going:

RF Winn
LF Lewis
SS Renteria
3B Sandoval
1B Ishikawa
C Molina
CF Rowand
2B Frandsen
P Lincecum

If they get CC back, or another lefty is going:

RF Winn
LF Lewis
SS Renteria
CF Rowand
1B Phelps
C Molina
3B Sandoval
2B Frandsen
P Lincecum

You could get a lot pickier with lefty-righty splits, but I'm trying to be realistic: Bochy (and most managers) seem to want to preserve continuity for the sake of it. Here, you just get Rowand and Sandoval flip-flopping, and the 1B platoon.

Have at it.