Lefty, there is no way Jason Bay is coming to a Dock by Our Bay...mark my words, Jermaine Dye will be Sabean's great acquisition. Abreau # from last year, $5 million with incentives. Molina will be back, let's hope for just one year at no more than $6 mill. I am betting Uribe is gone. But the one player I want is Figgins...can $10 mill for 3 years land him?

Just heard Lincecum was cited for marijuana possession. Could that effect Cy Young votes?

Well, technically Bonds was a free agent signing, so I suspect that Sabean would look pretty good in those years where he was producing big time.

I don't see Dye coming our way, he is a horrible fielder for years, and Sabean don't really go for those types, though Renteria has been slightly below average for years too. Bay too.

I like Figgins too, and he would be my best bet for who the Giants land this off-season for improving the lineup. He was also almost worth a win on defense at 3B too, according to Fielding Bible, in 2008.

Kei Igawa, Eric Brynes (not free agent, but would have been), Jason Schmidt (who was great for the Giants, not so much for the Dodgers), Loaiza, I think some would argue that Adrian Beltre belongs on this list, Albert Belle certainly, Hampton and that other guy for Colorado, Darren Dreifort (not free agent but could have been) and if you added up all the Yankees free agent acquisitions, I don't see how they can add up to above their payroll in any season.

I would also add that UZR does not capture a lot of the catcher's worth on defense, so perhaps $1-3M of that $12M difference is due to that, if he is as good on defense as some say he is.

I hate 2 always break the Timmy news but ...Busted, pot, Vancouver WA

Rumor has that he was pulled over, cop smelled pot & found a pipe & 3.3 grams???he tokes Everyday.

sent from iPhone

How about Adrian Beltre? Great defense, has some pop, has done well in the NL west before, would allow Pablo to play 1B. Had a down year this year, so he is due for a bounce and would come a little more cheaply.

read in Trade Rumors that Texas has interest in Dye, so be it. I would not pay Dye more than $5 mill for one year. Early word was that Boston only offered Bay 4 years at $15 mill per. SO it is conceivable the Giants could come in and add one more year, but I get that Rowand knot in my stomach about a sure thing coming here.

Plus, every agent knows that to drive the price up for their players, start negotiating with Sabean and you will soon have the salry you want to leverage with the team your player really wants to play for...ask Carlos Lee, Soriano, Manny...

Figgins is still my must add...forget about Beltre. Trade J. Sanchez for Cuddyer is my most recent trade proposal. Twins could really use another arm in their rotation and thye have milked us for pitching for great success. Plus Twins are always looking at saving money. Money saved from Cuddyer could then be used to help keep Mauer...plus Cuddyer has only one more guaranteed year in his contract for a fairly reasonable $8.5 mill. I will throw in Bowker or Fred Lewis to sweeten the pot...

Dye would be a negative acquisition so if he came here with ten mil in his suitcase for us, I would go for it, otherwise, forget it.

Figgins will be 32 next year coming off a career year. His on-base pct. is sure to regress and he never had power. He led the league in caught stealing last year to offset 47 steals. He’ll be getting slower. I wouldn’t want him unless in the middle of the infield which he won’t be. Sanchez will be more valuable at 2nd than Figgins would be at third.

Beltre is only marginally better than Pedro Feliz. Remember him? They are very close to being the same player. I’d pass on him.

What I would do, I’d go after Zimmerman, the 3rd baseman of the Nats. I’d offer Cane, Garko and maybe Rohlinger. Then I’d sign Nick Johnson for 1st base. Sandoval would go to catch, where he belongs. With all the money left (?) I’d sign Abreu for left field.

My lineup would look like this:

Rowand
Abreu
Johnson
Sandoval
Zimmerman
Bowker
Sanchez
Renteria

That’s more than 100 runs better than this past year.

J. Sanchez and Bowker would be on my untouchable list. They could be a couple of studs. Maybe not, but let’s find out.

If I heard that someone on the giants got busted smokin grass I would have immediately assumed it was Freddy Lewis smokin in left field during games but then again when I see the squinty eyes and shit eatin grin on Timmy's face in post game interviews, it makes a lot of sense! Bottom line is that smokin grass is about as bad for you as drinking coffee and if that is how Timmy likes to unwind then I have no problem with it. Maybe they can open up a cannibis club at AT&T and a pot smoking section out in the bleachers as a tribute...

As far as free agent signings, none of the options listed above are attractive and they all are high risk. Bay definitely could turn into another Rowand as he didn't exactly light it up in Pittsburgh all those years and only started hitting once he got to Boston before pooping the bed in the playoffs. Dye contrary to what everyone is saying is actually a decent hitter, not sure why he is getting ripped here when the guy hits 30 HR's and 100 RBI's every year. He is however old and had a bad second half but definitely fits the profile of a future Sabean acquisition (Sabes coveted him several years ago and much like Dave Roberts, may jump all over the opportunity to sign him now).

Chone Figgs is intriguing but again has tons of potential to bust. I see him kinda the way I look at Juan Pierre, best case scenario he gets on base a lot and sets the table for the least potent middle of the order in baseball but more then likely his numbers will decline and we would be paying top dollar for a guy whose best years are behind him.

Adrian Beltre used steroids to get his huge contract in Seattle and then turned into a complete bust. We dont want his garbage so please, don't ever mention his name again.

Bottom line is that this offseason is thin on free agents. I would almost feel better about a low risk high reward option like Blalock or Derosa that could be signed to a short term deal for a reasonable amount and has the flexibility to play multiple positions. The last thing we need are more outfielders so if we cant get a stud first or third basemen then why waste money on another risky outfielder?

Pato, I thoroughly agree with your posting except for Figgins. Good news, I see he is listed as Type B. If you or Lefty could expand on what that means, I would appreicate it, but I expect that will constrain his price to a degree.

It is obvious we dont have a legit cleanup hitter, but we also do not have a legit leadoff hitter. If we are going to go into this season with Dye or another mid-level cleanup hitter, I think setting the table with a legit leadoff, Velez to me does not fit the bill, will have a tremendous affect on the lineup.

A speedy leadoff hitter with legit steal potential with F. Sanchez hitting behind could be a nice jump start to our offense at the beginning of every game. Will also force pitchers to throw more strikes to Pablo, especially if he lays off more pitches outside the strike zone.

Twins have to decide on a 2011 option for Cuddyer by Monday, if they dont pick it up, it may be a sign they want to reserve their money for Mauer and may be willing to entertain trade offers. J. Sanchez and Bowker/F. Lewis for Cuddyer? I like it!!!

Lineup:

1) Figgins - 3B
2) F. Sanchez - 2B
3) Pablo - 1B
4) Cuddyer - LF
5) Schierholtz - RF
6) Molina - C
7) Rowand - RF
8) Renteria - SS

I would see Velez getting 4-5 starts a week or so and Torres a couple. For Velez, couple starts in left, couple in right and maybe 1-2 at second. Torres starts 2 games a week in center over Rowand. Rowand should start no more than 2/3s of the games in center. I would get Ishi a couple starts a week as well and maybe Figgins ciould start a game or two at second instead of Velez.

Can we get Figgins for $8 mill for 4 years? This lineup will not be murderers row, bbut we dont need one with our pitching staff. If we trade J. Sanchez, we need to add Brad Penny, $8 mill after incentives a year for two years seems reasonable to me.

With all these moves I have a net payroll of $98 million, plus I have Lincecum getting bumped to $6 mill (I offer him a 5 year deal now with the pot bust, $6 mill for 2010, $8 mill for 2011, $10 mill for 2012, $12 mill for 2013 - no Rowand, $14 mill in 2014 - no Zito and his first free agent year) and Brian Wilson at $4 mill.

Ownership owess us to go ahead and take payroll to $100 mill threshold. If the year does not pan out, no Molina, no Renteria and no Cuddyer option for 2011. That puts almost $24 million back in the pot.

I like your thinking on this one PeteVA. I also agree that the payroll needs to increase no matter what and if we could upgrade leadoff then that is better then nothing. I am still a little hesitant on Chone though and at 8 mil a year it would be costly if he didnt pan out. I imagine his price tag will be right around there and the fact that he has some position flexibility is nice as well. Seems like there is a lot of early action with a few trades today so hopefully we start hearing rumors and get an idea of what is going to happen in the next week or two.

Figgins will be overpaid. If the Giants sign him, it will be a bad contract for us.

Wonder what it would take for us to get the Nats Willingham for our left field? There would be our cleanup guy..

Lefty, it's easy to say they'll win for five more years, but not without replacing one of the best closers in history, a great catcher, and one of the best hitting ss in baseball. All the money in the world can't invent those things, and some of them (SS) have been pretty tough to come by at any price in the past few years. Renteria, Henry Blanco, and JJ Putz won't exactly lead them to a threepeat, even if Rivera/Jeter/Posada come back at relatively full strength.