It’s almost a relief that the Brian Sabean didn’t dive into free agency from the start with the same vigor as a child who sees one of those giant inflatable bouncer things for the first time. He did that last year, and ended up going 1-for-4 on his veteran spending spree, as Sabean turned tens of millions of dollars into a bunch of broken promises and Jeremy Affeldt.
According to ESPN, the Giants’ payroll was around $82 million, not including deferred money paid to guys like Barry Bonds, Dave Roberts and Mike LaCoss. They say they are going to keep the payroll in the low $90′s in 2010 (where it supposedly was in 2009), and they’re shedding around $34 million in letting Randy Winn, Randy Johnson, Bengie Molina, Noah Lowry, Bob Howry, Rich Aurilia and Juan Uribe walk.
With Freddy “Sanchy II” Sanchez’s contract and arbitration settlements/extensions set to go to Tim Lincecum, Life of Brian and Jonathan Sanchez adding money to the payroll, along with escalator contract increases for the team’s two resident albatrosses (Zeets and Wall-Face), the Giants say they only have $8 million to spend in free agency.
In other words, Sabean is being held back from jumping into the glorious inflatable bouncing castle by the worry that Lincecum, Wilson and Sanchy I combined will earn $20 million in 2010. With the chances of making a trade for Dan Uggla tempered by the Giants letting Brad Penny go…
OK, enough. Is anybody else completely sick of hearing about how the Giants will end up running in place financially this season? We don’t know how much they make, how much they pay and just what and who controls their yearly budget. All we know is the Giants have done a fantastic job of selling the idea that budgetary concerns for the team are all of our concerns, so if you think the Giants are going to trade for Adrian Gonzalez and sign Jason Bay, well, you probably aren’t reading this website. You’re calling Fitz and Brooks.
Sabean should think about signing Mike Cameron, he’ll kick the tires on Jermaine Dye.
He should do his due dilligence on Adrian Beltre, he’ll attempt to back up the truck for Nick Johnson.
And worst of all, we all know Juan Uribe will hook up with another team in the National League for 3 years and $12 million and Sabean will spend all 8 million extra 2010 dollars on a 3-year, $27 million contract for Mark DeRosa (escalating contracts are the best!).
If you can only hop around in the inflatable bouncer for a minute or so, might as well go after the 34-year-old multi-positional guy you’ve been coveting ever since he became highly coveted by everyone else. No way he can possibly deteriorate in the next year or so, and besides, he’s a totally rad clubhouse guy and knows F.P. Santangelo.
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