Currently, there are 42 men on the 40 man roster. We have 9 potential free agents, and for the sake of conversation let's just say goodbye to all of them: Cody Ross, Carlos Beltran, Pat Burrell, Miguel Tejada, Orlando Cabrera, Mark DeRosa (who?), Guillermo Mota, Javier Lopez, and Jeremy Affeldt.
Affeldt technically has a $4.5 mil option with a 500K buyout, so let's take the buyout. This leaves us now at 33, with room to add seven players via free agency or purchasing minor league contracts. As far as internal promotions go, I'll take the following: Roger Kieschnick, Gary Brown, Bret Pill, and Eric Surkamp. Kieschnick and Surkamp have had very solid seasons in Double-A, Pill did well in his first season at Triple-A, and Gary Brown is... Gary Brown. Still leaves 3 open spots for free agents, maybe even one of the guys mentioned above who I'd let go. But I'm not dabbling into free agency right now, I'm only working with guaranteed things.
Opening Day Lineup:
C: Posey
1B: Huff
2B: Sanchez, F
3B: Sandoval
SS: Keppinger
LF: Belt
CF: Rowand
RF: Schierholtz
R: Sanchez, H
R: Crawford
R: Burriss
R: Ford
R: Peguero
Optioned to minors: Adrianza, Gillaspie, Kieschnick,
Brown, Pill
I see Fontenot, Torres, Whiteside, and Stewart all being
non-tendered. One or more could come back on a minor league deal as insurance
in case of injuries or what not (especially one of the catchers, it's not like
Whiteside would fetch anything noteworthy in his first year through
arbitration), but if Hector is ready to back up Posey then let him at it.
Fontenot is handy once in awhile, and he definitely had his shining moments at
certain points in 2010, but he doesn't provide anything more than what Burriss
can for cheaper. As for shortstop, I do like Crawford's defense, and I'd
definitely use him in most if not every game as at least a defensive sub in
late innigs... obviously he's gonna get his starts, too, but I have a harder time
seeing Keppinger being kept around making a few million bucks just to be a
backup/utility guy. If Keppinger is staying, it's as a starter somehow;
otherwise they might non-tender him as well.
<a href="http://www.leftymalo.com/2011/08/race_to_the_bottom_aubrey_huff_v_aaron_rowand.php">Despite Lefty calling for someone's head,</a> you can see that I have not only kept Huff and Rowand, I've kept them both in the starting lineup. Ideally I'd like Belt at first because he's superior defensively (and offensively and in every other way) but the thought of Huff in the outfield worries me. And you may think it extreme to keep Rowand and non-tender Torres, but Torres is having a somewhat mediocre-bordering-on-bad season and he's not getting any younger. With no obvious upgrades on the free agent market in the outfield and with Gary Brown still getting ready in the minors, we may as well <a href"http://images2.travbuddy.com/1281819_12140687814693_bigthumb.jpg">ride the horse we rode in on.</a>
On the pitching side:
RS: Lincecum
RS: Cain
LS: Bumgarner
RS: Vogelsong
LS: Surkamp
CL: Wilson
RR: Romo
RR: Ramirez
RR: Casilla
RR: Edlefsen
LR: Runzler
LR: Sanchez, J
Other options: Joaquin, Tanner
Released: Barry Zito
Barry Zito is making money no matter what he's doing for
this team, so it may as well be doing what he can best do to help the team win
more games: sitting at home. I know the same could be said of Huff and/or Rowand, but at least with Zito there's a realistic replacement available (not like there aren't a dozen starters they could sign as free agents, either). As of spring 2012 the Giants will owe Zito $46
million ($19 m in 2012, $20 m in 2013, and a $7 mil buyout in 2014). A team that
just sold thousands of people bricks for $400.00 each surely has money to throw
away, so cut him a check and tell him to take a hike. Honestly, he's not even
worth the innings he would potentially eat any more. Or maybe, being
optimistic, trade him to some team and cut them a $40 million check so maybe we
at least get a body in return. Either way, a solid minor leaguer (Surkamp)
cannot possibly be any worse than Zito.
You also may have noticed Dirty Sanchez has returned to
the bullpen, because a hard throwing lefty is never a bad thing to have in
one's bullpen no matter who it is. And hey, if he's still his same wild self,
we'll only have to deal with it for one inning at a time. Plus, since I've
assumed Lopez and Affeldt are departing, Sanchie and Runzler would be our only
available lefties in relief. And everyone knows a bullpen can change
dramatically from one week to the next, so who really knows here.
So where do we have room for improvement? Possibly on the
pitching side for a team that has built itself around it, since Surkamp is not
a sure thing, nor is Vogelsong for that matter (the clock has to strike
midnight at some point, right?) Sanchez is always around to move back to the
rotation if need be, but then that opens a whole in the 'pen. This may be
evidence enough to try and resign Affeldt (if not just exercise his option), not to mention Runzler may not inspire a ton of confidence either.
Rumor also has it CC Sabathia could opt out of his contract and become a free
agent this winter... nah. Wishful thinking.
On the hitting side, an outfield of Huff, Rowand and
Schierholtz is decent, but leaves a lot to be desired in terms of power. Forget
retaining 36-year-old Beltran... but maybe... MAYBE... this team should get into the
bidding for Albert Pujols. I love Brandon Belt and all, but he's not Albert
Pujols. I realize the payroll is at a record high as it is, but you can't tell
me this team doesn't have the ability to climb a little higher, ESPECIALLY if
it means getting Pujols. If not Albert, then the Giants could definitely pursue
Jose Reyes. I'm not so keen on him since he's injury prone, and he could very
well end up being the shortstop equivalent of Barry Zito in 4 years. But
shortstop is another position that could use an upgrade, and Reyes is that
(when he wants to be).
Again, don't try to tell me Pujols or Reyes (or
Sabathia?) are out of the question because of money. Money might be a little
tight in 2012 with Lincecum and Cain both scheduled to make big bucks and the Rowand/Huff monster still occupying space in San Fran, but a year later they will both be gone,
and soon after that they'll stop writing paychecks to Barry Zito (whether they
release him or not.) The Giants would be making more money than they'd know
what to do with if they landed a huge free agent.
But if not, there you have my new and improved look ahead
to 2012, which looks more realistic than the one I posted a couple of months
ago before 2011 even began. Working with what we have now puts out a squad that
doesn't look half bad... not exactly what you'd call a championship team on
paper, but hey... the team that actually WON the World Series wasn't much of one
on paper either.
