Ouch Lefty!!! You just left me feeling ill after reading this post.

It may be a business, but for the customer/fan, it is entertainment.

Here we are, entertain us, Brian Sabean. If you're going to trade Matty, it better be for a Ryan Braun.

Lefty, again I question Sabean's abilities to run this team. Lincecum files for $13 million, so instead of being a couple million off that number and maybe having a chance to win in arbitration, Sabean goes for a lowball, disrespectful $8 million offer.

We all guessed Timmy would be in the $12 mill range, why did he not just offer $10 mill and have a chance at least of winning. Let's hope they have a 5-year deal on the table pretty soon. I was hoping something in the $60 mill range, but that is probably not happening now.

Sabean sucks we all know that but give the guy a little credit, this team is better then last years and has more flexibility when guys like Sanchez and DeRosa get hurt. It isn't quite Busters time yet so I am glad we aren't forcing him along.

What everyone seems to be most upset about aside from the Giants not making a big splash with Holliday, Bay, or Chone, is that some of the young question marks like Ishi, Bowk, and Nate might not get enough playing time. I say turn the page on these guys and lets get ready for the next crop of young talent (Nate should still get plenty of PT).

This should be the last year we have to deal with aging veterans and if this team doesn't improve over last year then Sabean will be gone. We have youth coming up for 2011 and beyond and really there isn't too much else that could have been done to improve this team without trading away some of its strengths or committing huge money to guys like Bay and Holliday.

Why does this all feel like deja vu all over again?

Yeah, that $8 million figure is a bit astonishing. Surely there's a story behind the scenes there. Maybe it means that the Giants plan to settle before arbitration and the $8 million is just a negotiating ploy--i.e., a figure they expect to immediately abandon.

They can't imagine the arbitration would go that low, not even in this economy.

If we had this offense last year, we would have made the playoffs, no? And as ObsessiveGiantCompulsive has pointed out, the playoffs are dominated by pitching, especially the top three starters, where we're as strong as anyone in baseball.

It will be interesting to watch what happens in the second half of the season if Posey starts lighting up the AAA team.

Brian Sabean Deserves To Be Fired. He Does Not Deserve To Have A Job.

I really don't care if this team is better than it was last year. The Zito & Rowand deals were ridiculous and are going to screw us over for years to come, he's been in power for 13 freaking years, and it's not like he's acting like a genius even now. I mean, come on, 4.5 million to Bengie Freakin' Molina? It's just time for some new blood.

I mean, I realize this is a moot point, since he already got the extension, I just want to take this opportunity to bitch and moan about Sabes.

Lefty,

Minor correction, Brian Wilson like Tim Lincecum is super 2 and thus has three more years of arbitration.

On the Bengie front count me in as one of the few in the Giants fan blogosphere that has no problem with re-signing him. This move can be used to prevent Buster from attaining super 2 if we keep him in the minors thru the end of June and that should be the plan. Bring him up then to split time in July and August telling Bengie it is to keep him fresh for September. If Buster outperforms Bengie in these two months then the Giants have a solid reason to let Buster rather then Bengie play the lions share in September. In either case Posey is given the development time and MLB experience he needs to be ready to be the full time starter in 2011.

While I agree that Cain is a great trading chip, I think it will be Sanchez who will be traded, after the 2010 season, as he would still have two more years of control, he should have a pretty good 2010 season, assuming he builds upon what he did in 2009. He would net some sort of Haren-type deal that would re-stock the farm system now that Lincecum, and presumably Posey and Bumgarner, had flow or will fly the coop.

In addition, I think Cain will work out some sort of extension within the next year. He loves the Giants, he loves the area, his wife is from the area, he's never seemed to be a greedy guy nor one to ask for all that he could get. Lincecum, on the other hand, wants what's fair, and there is nothing wrong with that, but just that he'll be harder to sign to an extension and you can't expect to get a home discount from him, while from Cain I would think that he would.

I'm OK with Bengie's deal. It already prices in Posey coming in to start part-time during the latter part of the season, and should Posey not be ready for whatever reason, we have Molina. It also prices in his drop in performance, and if his decline is related to his first child, as I've speculated, then he could have a bounceback year offensively.

I don't think Molina is going to bat cleanup. If Huff falters in that spot, then I think Sandoval will be moved there, as they had planned before.

The numbers for Wilson -

Wilson asked for $4.875 million, while the Giants countered with a $4 million offer.

Next year, Renteria, Molina, Huff, Uribe, Affeldt will be off the books. They will have Zito, Lincecum, Wilson, Rowand, DeRosa, F. Sanchez, Sandoval. Together the commitment is for $44.6 million (per Cot's). They will save money in the catcher's position. So, they could keep both J. Sanchez and Cain and get a shortstop and a couple of outfielders in the free agency or better still if some home-grown products step up as outfielders go with them for cheap.

The $44.6 million does not include Lincecum's or Wilson's arbitrated salaries. The total payroll will be around 90 million if the team is in a position to win as it will be this year. So, there is money to sign good players.