Signings and Such....

Lotsa arbitration stuff to deal with so let's just dive in. Nothing real shocking but there were some notable moves. Let's get the bad out of the way.

Bad
-Having to pay Melky $6 mil for a career year in the AL isn't ideal but the Giants knew that was going to happen. He's had 6 years of service and in today's baseball world, that's what a serviceable OF is worth.
-Whiteside and Burriss getting any deal at all is bad in my mind because they are just taking up roster spots. I realize they make a combined $1.25 mil but those spots could be used differently.
-Paying Pagan $4.85 mil will only be bad if he doesn't play 140 games, which is a 50/50 proposition. I'm much higher on him than most, as I've pointed out previously. He could be a bargain at that price but the uncertainty is the drawback. Of course, the Giants knew his number would be around that so it is what it is.
-Fontenot and not Keppinger. I've discussed this ad nauseum. I see Keppy as being the better fit and he would have only made maybe a million more than $1.05 mil Font got. 


The Kind-Of-Good-But-We-Knew-It -Was-Happening
-Schierholtz getting $1.3 mil is great if he stays healthy. He won't be the worst hitter in any lineup and his defense is A+. He comes with the health caveat however. If he stays healthy, he's a super bargain.
-Casilla gets $2.2 mil to be the 7th inning righty. Right on par with what he should make for his years of service but a bargain for what his numbers are.
-Romo is the ultra super mega bargain of the offseason. We all knew he'd make under $2 mil but getting the best middle reliever in the game (www.mccoveychronicles.com/2012/1/20/2721757/on-sergio-romo?ref=yahoo) for $1.57 mil is an absolute steal. He's dirty, 'nuff said.

The Good
- Signing Panda for 3/$18 mil. Great deal for a top 5 3B in the league (Bautista in TOR, Longoria, Beltre, David Wright and Panda). My thought is this. In year 3 of the deal he'll be making $8.25 mil. If he doesn't improve (which he 100% will), the Giants are getting .300, 25+ HR, 80+ RBI production for that $8+ mil. Well done Sabes.
-The Song signed for 2/$8 mil with a club option for a 3rd year at $6.5 mil. Great value for a 3rd starter that the Giants use as a 4th starter. Even if he regresses, which is likely, he's still a very low 3's ERA guy that will go deep into games. Really like that deal.
-Lincy for a boat load of cash. 2/$44.5 mil. Huge numbers but that's what a 2 time Cy Young award winner is worth. Now, he turned down a 5/$100 mil offer before signing a 2 year deal so how do we interpret that? Off the bat I thought it was a clear sign that after the 2013 season, he's gone, off to Seattle (can't see him in NY or BOS). But the Giants got a top 5 starter for the next 2 years and there's no reason they can't extend him during the 2013 season. So my advice in looking at this contract...enjoy the fact that you get the Freak for 2 more years. And if for whatever reason the Giants aren't contending in 2013, is there a bigger piece of trade bait in the league? They could re-stock the farm system from the raping that was the Carlos Beltran rental for 44 games last year.

So there you have it. Overall after the utter failure that the front office and ownership put forth during the free agent period, it was a solid round of arbitration and signings. So here's a look at what the roster "MIGHT" look like come opening day:
Pitchers (11):
Lincecum, Cain, MadBum, The Song, Zito
B Weezy, Romo, Casilla, Javy, Affeldt, Mota
Catchers (2):
Posey, Whiteside
Infielders (8):
Huff, Belt, Pill, Sanchez, Fontenot, Crawford, Burriss, Panda
Outfielders (3):
Melky, Pagan, Nasty Nate

Now, obvi Belt, Huff and Burriss can play the OF so that's why there are only 3 outfielders listed. That's 24 players. So I left room for 1 wild card. Thoughts on who it could be? I've got some.

Chris Stewart: Yeah, I'm sure Bochean will decide he's the 25th man. Old, no upside....seems like the obvious choice.

Hector Sanchez: He SHOULD be the backup catcher instead of Whiteside. He could catch 2 games a week for Posey so he'd get his AB's. Not bad to have switch hit pop on the bench either. If he's not brought up, he should stay in Fresno all year and get 500+ AB's.

There's a few minor league pitchers that could get the nod as the 12th man in the bullpen. Guys we've seen before (Runzler...gross, Osiris Matos, Waldis Jaoquin) and guys we haven't (David Quinowski and Dan Otero).

The 25th man depends on what they decide to do with the bullpen. I guess gun to my head, I'd prefer a young guy in the bully to learn from the vets. But whatever Bochean decides I'm positive will be the wrong decision. All in all, the Giants have a team to compete for the West title, but A LOT of things need to break right for them. I hate hoping for things but that's what we're left with as Giants fans. More discussions will be posted as we get closer to Spring Training....