ESPN's Buster Olney reports (via Twitter) that Adam LaRoche turned down a two-year, $17MM deal from San Francisco, and now the Giants may have pulled their offer back altogether. LaRoche has been mentioned as a possible target for the Giants this winter and would certainly fill their need for a left-handed hitter, but as Olney notes in a follow-up tweet, San Francisco is "discussing alternatives" to signing the first baseman.
The Giants' stance could also be a negotiating tactic to get LaRoche to drop his asking price given that, as Olney pointed out, LaRoche seems to be down to just the Giants and Orioles as potential suitors. (The Mariners were scratched from the list given their acquisition of Casey Kotchman.)
DUMB… should have taken that deal
He may reconsider in time. It’s not like teams are banging down his door, and I’d be surprised to see the O’s outbid the Giants.
The O’s have left over Matt Holliday money. I think they are not done spending to say the least.
Well, that is true for sure but at least one thing the O’s have often works against them…Peter Angelos! 😉 Good luck!
Agree. 17M is it for him. Anybody that gives him more is wacko and seeing that both Hendry and Minaya are already out of big cash.. His prospects are pretty slim..
I agree that 8-9MM is as most as he can get per year, but only 2 years? I would think he’d be worth 3 plus an easy vesting year. He’s been worth around 9MM in WAR terms the last 4 years, and at 30 hes not exactly on his last legs. I wonder if the Mets might show interest, perhaps after the address the starting pitching situation.
I think that the Giants believe that they have cheaper options – namely Brett Pill – coming up through the minors. Giants haven’t signed anybody to more than a two-year deal since the start of last offseason, with Crawford, Neal, Kieschnick, Pill, Posey, and Bumgarner all at various stages of development.
Admittedly, Pill is a R/R 1B, but I suspect he’s starting to figure into the Giants’ long term plans, given they had Meulens work with him earlier this offseason.
That might be the best deal this guy gets. He’s crazy if he thinks he can get a three year contract.
They got 17mil to throw around? Why not get Damon for 2/16MM, and Cust for about 2MM. Good hitting outfield and solid infield. Good leadoff guy and good/cheap RF that can bat in front of or behind Panda. Not a bad lineup from top to bottom with these 2. Do it Sabean!
Your really think Damon is a better option than Laroche? His BA fell off 20 points this past year, his stolen bases were cut by more than half, and his HR total benefitted from the hitters ballpark he is playing in. Not to mention quickly declining defense. And we wouldnt have to witness this terrible decline for just one year, but two? There’s a reason the yankees didnt resign him. Laroche is very solid defensively, and is in his prime. He is the much better option.
Beat me to it again. Cust and Damon are both bad defensive options. We don’t need either because we already have DeRosa to play LF. Expect the Giants to be looking for an upgrade at 1B, or maybe RF.
Damn, took the words right out of my mouth. But I will add this, Damon can’t play first base.
i think he will get more money. I really think that Adam is not only the best first baseman on the market but i think he is destined to have a big year. He would fit great on the Orioles. If the Giants did infact pull back their offer, they are doing a worse job this off-season then they were before offering him the deal. They need a big bat. They have missed so many opportunities and Mark DeRosa is not “that” bat.
I agree with Sabean, I would take the offer off the board. Besides the O’s and SF who really is after LaRoche? Mostly like Seattle will trade for Kotchman, The Mets don’t have the money for him, unless they pass on Pinero or SP. The Braves won’t give him a 3 year deal, so who is lefT?
adam freaking laroche… who does this guy think he is? laroche is a 1B that the pirates, braves, and sox dumped. Is SF $$$$ not green enough for him? He is from california. laroche is a douche bag. Why would the Giants want his lame butt anyway? He has never had 100 RBI season and a career .274 hitter. Averages 120 strikeouts a season… and the Giants offered this fool $17 million for two seasons? Who is dumber the Giants offering $17 million for an average 1B that has never sniffed the all-star game and has NO gold gloves or the laroche not taking the offer? Hey Laroche if you don’t want to play in SF just say so. What is Baltimore going to offer you a sweeter deal? Baltimore is a cellar team and won’t be the Rays, Sox, or Yanks, or even the Jays.
He should get at least a three at 25 or so. Laroche is a solid undervalued player. He’s in his prime years and deserves more than 17mill.
completely agree
does he know his name is “adam laroche?”
adam freaking laroche… who does this guy think he is? laroche is a 1B that the pirates, braves, and sox dumped. Is SF $$$$ not green enough for him? He is from california. laroche is a douche bag. Why would the Giants want his lame butt anyway? He has never had 100 RBI season and a career .274 hitter. Averages 120 strikeouts a season… and the Giants offered this fool $17 million for two seasons? Who is dumber the Giants offering $17 million for an average 1B that has never sniffed the all-star game and has NO gold gloves or the laroche not taking the offer? Hey Laroche if you don’t want to play in SF just say so. What is Baltimore going to offer you a sweeter deal? Baltimore is a cellar team and won’t beat the Rays, Sox, or Yanks, or even the Jays.
Bad move by LaRoche, that sounds like a great deal on his side. No matter, I’d rather have Damon for a 1 year 8.5M than LaRoche anyway.
Also a question about disqus… It doesn’t keep me logged in, whenever I click on a rumor I have to sign in again which is kinda annoying, so my question is how do I keep it from signing me out?
Did you sign in to “disqus” directly or did you try to post a comment and then signed in? I had the same problem.
I went to disqus.com and Im logged in there but here, its really wierd. Would you mind going to detail what you did?
Forget it. It just logged me out too. 🙁
same here (disqus thing)
Yeah, this new system sucks. Every time you click on a new rumor (or even refresh the page you’re on), you have to re-login if you want to comment. Garbage. Way to ruin a perfectly effective system MLBTradeRumors.
I don’t.
Neither do I. I haven’t had to log-in since the 1st time I signed in. Maybe I have it saving my password and auto-logging in. Not sure.
Same here. I’m using Firefox and it’s working just fine!
same
same here yall might to get firefox lol
It works fine for me, maybe its your browser (I’m on firefox) or your internet settings?
Its internet explorer. Firefox works fine.
I dont have to log in or out i stayed log in dont know how but i do im not havin no trouble with it.. did yall get that messege they send u at yahoo?
I had the same problem with internet explorer. Firefox remembers my login now! I think I remember reading a couple times Tim saying that everything on MLBTradeRumors works better with firefox.
Suppose the giants will take a stab at Branyan, then? Branyan wants stability and the Giants could give it to him. LaRoche probably doesn’t want to play at AT&T because his numbers will deflate with that ballpark.
Branyan also hit 31 HRs in a pitcher’s ballpark last year, and is already on the West Coast. For a dark horse, he’s a pretty good option.
wowwww. I blame the Red Sox. Red Sox decided to give Beltre 10mill for one reason.. now Laroche feels he’s a similar player to Beltre, therefore believes he deserves “beltre-like” money.
Well like Yanksfan said, The LaRoche deal is better. Best case scenario for Beltre is 11mil if he opts out. Or 15mill if he stays with the Red Sox.
Someone please call Adam LaRoche and remind him he is Adam LaRoche. Thanks.
wowwww. I blame the Red Sox. Red Sox decided to give Beltre 10mill for one reason.. now Laroche feels he’s a similar player to Beltre, therefore believes he deserves “beltre-like” money.
—————-
Except the deal for LaRoche is better because it’s guaranteed money and not a vesting option.
why would he turn this deal down he is not gonna get a better deal. Hes Adam laroche hes not exactly a 10 million dollar man, hes crazy.
FanGraphs has LaRoche worth 11MM last year, so technically you’re right… My uneducated guess is that Adam thinks he can get more years, not more money per.
this is adam laroche hes not worth 3 years 31 million, somebodys overrating themselves a littile bit
are you kidding me. thats crazy money for this guy. theres no way hes worth that. c’mon sabean. thats by far the worst news i heard all day. lets just hope they pulled that offer off the table.
They did. and i like Laroche but he aint worth that much lol…
Adam LaRoche will regret not taking this deal.
All right Laroche…you had your chance! NOBODY will offer you more!!!
You gotta wonder if he doesn’t have a better or comparable offer already to turn that down in this market???
Doubtful…only the O’s are in the mix.
So says the writer?
bad move by laroche….
Lol, Maybe so … But how has a rejecting a contract offer worked out for Damon? Or J. Bay for that matter. Loved what he did for my Sox but I wish him well playing LF in Citi Park.
Sabean has done well so far this offseason I think. He hasn’t overpaid anyone. He hasn’t locked anyone up to a long term deal. And he has made good offers to the right players. I can’t believe Laroche turned this down, but I am guessing he will come back around. With Laroche in the lineup, the giants have a great chance at making the playoffs.
If your definition of “doing well” is “not f*cking up,” then yes, Sabean has done well this offseason. Others might suggest that “doing well” means actually improving your team’s chances of winning the World Series. Sabean hasn’t really done that at all (signing Mark DeRosa and Juan Uribe doesn’t exactly scream World Series contender).
But, I have always maintained that Giants fans are easy to please because they have low expectations. Sabean gets a pass because he didn’t ink another Barry Zito contract… those are some low expectations.
Great.
Success this offseason is definitely measured in part by not screwing things up since we already have so much money tied into mediocre players such as zito, rowand, and renteria, and it would be a crime to continue this pattern.
Tell me this though, given the circumstances, what could sabean have done better in this offseason at this point?
Agreed; this is a fairly weak FA class in terms of talent, and what talent there is has been overpaid up to this point, particularly pitching. Sabean is right to be bargain shopping and biding his time for a better deal, which is exactly what he will get if the O’s don’t snap up LaRoche.
I don’t blame Sabean for not overpaying for free agents. What I do blame him for, and the way I think he could have done better this offseason, is his total lack of skill or creativity in exploring trade possibilities. He basically made a comment earlier this offseason to the effect of “I don’t like to do trades because you have to give something up.” Basically, he’s scared to make another big trade after the Pierzynski for Nathan/Liriano catastrophe, and now the Giants are paying for it. I don’t think there’s any reason an Uggla trade shouldn’t have happened, for instance. If it takes Sanchez, fine. I think his stock will never be higher than now, after his no-hitter. Plus, a creative GM would definitely explore trade possibilities for Matt Cain this offseason, while he still has two years before free agency. Most metrics say Cain is bound to regress so he is probably at the height of his value now. (But since when has Sabean proved he is even aware that sabermetrics exist.) Also, given that the Giants have elite pitching and abhorrent hitting, and an elite pitching prospect in Madison Bumgarner, I don’t see why they wouldn’t look into how they could turn his value in hitting via trade.
Yeah, I agree very much with your logic here. The thing is, I don’t know for sure what sabean has done on the trade market, other than try to get uggla without giving up sanchez or bumgarner. I personally agree with this logic, especially if Sabean signs a guy like laroche by the end of the offseason. And I think that may be what they have been thinking the whole time. Why go and trade one of the pitchers slated for our rotation and potentially a cornerstone of our rotation for years to come, when we can just go out and sign someone of the same caliber. However, the point now is there are not really any guys of that good caliber left other than laroche. So if he misses out on him, then yes, I would agree that he didnt do a good enough job this offseason. But at the same time, whereas laroche may no longer be a free agent in a week, uggla and others will still be on the trade block and sabean can always revisit those ideas, which i think he would, if all else fails. Its a tough business, im just glad to see that he hasnt made any dumb moves yet. I think that is what makes a good GM. Never making dumb moves. With no dumb moves, guys on the team are just naturally going to pan out and turn into stars. (i.e. lincecum, cain, sandoval, wilson) So yeah, not arguing sabean is GM of decade by no means but doing a pretty good job so far this offseason.
It bears mentioning that if Sabean is committed to not giving up pitching in a trade right now – as well he shouldn’t, given that Bumgarner is our #5 starter for the moment – then the Giants have very little worth trading. To get a bat of worth, we’d have to give up 3-5 of our best position-player prospects and/or starters. This would mean we get some short term gain, maybe 2-3 years of solid production from a hitter, but the chances that one of those players hits their stride as they enter the best years of their career is pretty high when you give up 3-5 players under 27.
Sabean’s absolutely right: you have to give something to get something. Sadly, the only thing we have to give is the one thing that got our team 88 wins last year.
Actually Sabean has done a wonderful job this off season. Not only has he not overpaid for the likes of Bay or Damon. Nor has he overpaid to bring back existing players, ie, Molina.
I doubt Giant fans have low expection, they realize the team has made a few mistakes. Such the Zito contract, trading Nathan and Liriano to the twins. But most overall they realize they play in the NL West where any team can win the division.
I’m getting a little tired of various player’s lack of respect for San Francisco and lack of desire to play here. I understand the ballpark is a pitcher’s ballpark, but once they get their life changing contract, with enough money for them and 3 generations of their family to come after them, do the numbers really count that much anymore? As far as legacy and history of franchise’s go, I’d say the Giants can stand toe to toe with any other team in MLB. Even the so called “big dogs” i.e. Chicago, New York, Boston. We’re the oldest franchise, and we have more wins than any team in MLB history. That being said, I really hope its just a negotiating ploy and that the Giants land him.
Dude! Be thankful your not in Baltimore!
Better days are ahead for both!!!
Giants should not get Cust cause he made many errors last season with the A’s. damon should be the guy the Giants should get. 8 mil. for 1 yr.
Cust hits 25+ each year, it would be a hometown discount since he plays 15 mins away from SF, and drives in atleast 70 runs a year. We will probably take him out towards the end of the game for defense after we get a lead with him driving in a few runs. Low BA, high K’s, but high BB’s and HR/RBI’s….I will take it for cheap
have you seen his career average? he’s a career .239 and he would be murdered with the pitching in our division and it doesn’t help that its a different league it would be like Garko except worse.
the giants do NOT need Damon and they really do NOT need Cust.
Agreed! Like I said earlier Damon can’t play first. Cust sucks and they are better off signing LaRoche (assuming he caves in) or Branyan. Maybe they could trade for Kotchman assuing Seattle doesn’t get him.
LaRoche is on some kind of ego trip if he thinks he’ll get anything better.
Is he a Boras client?
if im laroche i take this deal, why would you want to play for the orioles theyre just bad hes the hitter we need and he should know that
I also think thats a prett good offer for LaRoche. The only thing I can think of why he wouldn’t take this deal is that maybe he is holding out for a 3yr deal. I like LaRoche, but not at $10 mil per…
He screwed himself with his 3 yr 31m demand earlier. He’s gonna get a 1 yr deal for about 7 or 8 now, if he’s lucky. No offense Adam, but 1b’men like you are on every team.
This is good news. It means the Giants still have 8-9 million dollars for a bat this season. And they are targeting the right player in Adam LaRoche. Now hopefully LaRoche doesn’t get a better offer and agrees to terms with the Giants.
Russell Branyan, here we come!
It’s possible LaRoche rejected the offer because he can get a similar offer elsewhere, and he doesn’t want to live in San Francisco (with its high cost of living, and ridiculously high state income taxes). Playing in SF may have given him a marginally better chance of winning a World Series (over playing in Baltimore), but it’s not a huge difference (SF is really NL West competitive, not World Series competitive). And, when you have to pay 10% of your income to the state (like you do in CA if you earn more than $1 million), it might make sense to see if you can get a comparable deal with another team.
It’s not as if the Giants offered him a deal he couldn’t refuse. He’ll get a comparable deal from another team. Maybe his wife wants to live on the East Coast. Maybe their kids are in school in Atlanta and he wants to be close to Georgia for off days. Who knows? In any event, the idea that he’s stupid because he turned down this (relatively meager) deal is way off base. Baseball players have very few opportunities to choose where they play; if he doesn’t want to play in SF, there’s nothing stupid about that.
haha, it’s definitely the high income tax that strayed him away…
We should have DeRosa pitch the restaurant scene to him. That’ll turn his attitude right around!
Do you really think baseball players making millions of dollars a year, money none of us could ever dream of making, really care about the cost of living?
Is that a serious question?
1. The people who make the most money think about taxes the most.
2. Most baseball players don’t make a lot of money as MLB players; I’m not sure on the exact numbers, but my guess is the majority of players who reach the major leagues never reach free agency (i.e., they never get six years of major league service). Even if you’re a good baseball player, and you get six seasons of MLB service and reach free agency, you might have about 3-4 productive years when you can really maximize your full earning power (i.e., before your skills drop off a f*gging cliff). So, when they do reach free agency, they absolutely think about things like: “Hey, if I make $7 million in California next year, I’ll make $350,000-$400,000 less than if I played, in say, Florida.” Remember, most of these guys don’t have college degrees. What they earn in their professional careers is probably 95%-99% of what they’ll earn in their lifetimes (other than the few guys who end up as managers, or TV commentators, or whatever). So, yes, I imagine a baseball player thinks about things like cost of living, state income taxes, and where their families live (just like the rest of us do when deciding where to work).
If you had reread the comment you would have noticed I stated, “baseball players making millions of dollars a year”. Not your rookie callups or backup utilitymen making the league minimum. You are the first poster in my year+ of being on this site that has ever talked about multi-million dollar athletes skipping this city or that due to income taxes.
Mrs. Laroche is that you?
Playing in San Francisco gives him a marginally better chance than Baltimore? The Giants won 88 games last year and were in the WC hunt until the final week. The Orioles won 64 games, finished 39 games behind the Yankees and would have to supplant at least two of the NYY/BOS/TAM three-headed monster to make the playoffs in the AL.
I respect the pieces that BAL has in place with Jones/Markakis/Wieters/Matusz, but the same core exists in SF with Lincecum/Cain/Wilson/Sandoval/Posey.
Also keep in mind that the NL West was the deepest division in baseball (NL EAST is the best), with three teams with 88+ wins and no team under 70 wins.
Did anyone see Adam’s comment to the Atlanta writer about the Braves lack of interest?
“Guess I should have batted .400 last year!” LOL
He definitely doesn’t get it.
No Adam! It’s because you wanted 3 years and the Braves have a way better prospect moving quickly through the minors!
Don’t forget about ishikawa, he’s still young and has a lot of potential…the giants got in his head when they traded for garko…he needs security and he’ll do fine!
I think the deal was fair on both sides.
I hope we could offer him maybe 3 years/25-27m….or do 2 years/20 million…..cause he is worth 11m a year……..so the giants should give him 3 years cause i doon’t see any 1B prospects coming up for us anytime soon….the giants need to sign him and then we will be contending team…laroche will wait for more offers
What is the market for LaRoche and Damon at this point?
**Teams that might be interested in a 1B:
Braves w/ Prado playing 2B.
Marlins w/ Cantu playing 3B, but I seriously doubt they are willing to spend.
Mets, if they don’t feel confident in Murphy @ 1B. However, after signing Bay, money is too tight and my guess is they’ll focus in on Molina before they worry about a 1B.
Dbacks can move Jackson to LF but will they spend money on a 1B?
Orioles
Oakland? I think they’ll go with Barton instead.
M’s could still use another bat but what would they do with Carp?
**Teams that might be interested in a LF.
Yankees
Oakland on a 1 year deal to go along with Davis and Sweeny until Taylor is ready?
Braves on a 1 year to go with McClouth and Diaz (RF) until Heyward is ready?
Cincinnati on a 1 year deal? Move Dickerson to CF and use Taveras as a 4th OF. Damon could be a solid leadoff guy for them.
With the signing of Uribe and DeRosa is their a need for Damon or LaRoche anymore?
Yes. Uribe could take over SS and DeRosa could play LF and RF.
CF Rowand/Velez/ Torres
2B Sanchez
1B laRoache
3B Panda
LF Derosa
SS Uribe
C Posey
RF schierholtz
LaRoache’s 122 OPS+ would have been 2nd on the Giants last year.
For LaRoche yes, for Damon not even. They can move DeRosa to LF, Kung Fu panda to 3B and sign LaRoche (the big LH bat they need) to play 1B assuming his asking price comes down.
Bidding against themselves would come into play there Mule. I cannot see Atlanta, SFG giving LaRoche that much, much less a 3 year deal and take a look at the stadiums? None of those 3 are friendly at all to LaRoche and his power.
As to your point is he worth it? Technically, yes, but will he get a 3 year, or probably even the 17M? i really doubt it. He may be just looking for an offer from some place where he has a chance to put up numbers for 1 season, much like Beltre and re enter the market next season also.
I apologize for always calling SF’s stadium Candlestick, will still do it though, hard to stop calling the perfect all time name for a place anything different after all these years and it still plays the same anyway for both pitchers and hitters.
What was the name of the pitcher who was “blown” off of the mound in a game one time and called for a balk? Was it Eddie Fisher? Off topic but will always remember it.
It was Stu Miller and I believe in the 62 all-star game. The new ballpark is 100 times better place than “the stick”
i still miss the troughs at the ‘stick though…
This isn’t a bad offer at all considering he made 7 mil in 2009. I would be happy with a 1.5 million dollar raise anyday.
It’s funny that Glaus signed for 1/10th of what LaRoche was offered. Now I know they’re not the same player but LaRoche is certainly not 10x better than Glaus, in fact, Glaus at his best is a superior player to LaRoche. We’ll see how this plays out, but if I were the Giants I wouldn’t top this offer.
sure, Glaus at his best might be better than Adam LaRoche. (one thing to remember – much of Glaus’s value was derived from his excellent defense at 3B. it looks like teams are doubting his shoulder now, which takes away much of that value.) but LaRoche isn’t coming off a serious injury, he played more than 15 games last season, and he’s younger. that’s kind of like saying “Erik Bedard at his best is better than John Lackey”, and then criticizing the Red Sox for signing Lackey to that big contract when they could have gotten Bedard for much less. sure, that statement is factually true – if both pitchers threw an equal number of innings, I’d sure as heck place my money on Bedard being better. but the risk involved…
Why would anyone commit that many years to a mediocre player at a low-priority position? Many teams could find a better option in less than three years– perhaps in three weeks– and then they would be stuck with him.
That’s a little more than I thought they would offer him cash wise. Move on and see what it takes to sign Nady. With a Nady signing the Giants would keep Ish around.
more reson for the Braves to have offered him arbitration. A little late now I guess….
No comprende.
I think this is more reason why the Braves were smart NOT to offer him arbitration. LaRoche made over $7m last year; he would have made around $10m this year in arbitration. If he’s not getting any offers higher than two-years, $17m, that suggests the Braves would have been overpaying him at one-year, $10m.
Thus, they were smart not to lock themselves into a possible overpay, when they could instead choose from between all of the available 1Bs (including Glaus and Laroche) during the offseason…
I agree with Mule, 2 years plus a vesting option, he shouldn’t be looking for more. That is probably the best offer he will get this year.
this is dumb by laroach. this will probably be the best offer he gets. i think he’ll sign somewhere, maybe the giants for less in about a month or two.
Take a shot at Russell Branyan and Xavier Nady and then move back to Adam LaRoche if they don’t work out.
By that time, if Adam LaRoche hasn’t found a job his asking price will go down and then he’ll realize that he was dumb for not taking 8.5 mil for two straight years in a bad economy.
Sigh…
IDK about Branyan. Seattle thought that Casey Kotchman was a better alternative than bringing Branyan back. Part of that is his asking price but part could be his bad back that he had late last year. I think adding a guy like Jorge Cantu would be a better plan as well as bringing in a guy like Damon or Nady to play LF.
I loved the DeRosa signing for you guys he will give you a solid mid order bat and a lot of flexibility in the field.
If I was the Giants, I’d up my offer to LaRoche. All of the people on here suggesting LaRoche isn’t good are crazy — for the last four years, the guy has been a model of consistency: 20-30 HR; approx 275 AVG; approx 350 OBP; approx 500 SLG. He’d immediately become the second-best hitter on the Giants (easily), and he would add a much needed left-handed bat to a righty-heavy lineup (Posey, Sanchez, Renteria, DeRosa, Rowand).
Nady is a huge risk this season. He could come back, and he could continue the trend of increasing power he showed before last season… but the Giants don’t need a guy who could be good; they need a solid second threat in their lineup. As for Branyan, he’s not as good a hitter as LaRoche, and he’s a bigger injury risk (not to mention, four years older) than LaRoche. When the fallback is Travis Ishikawa, better to take the guy who’s not likely to spend a lot of time on the DL.
How can the Giants NOT offer this guy another year, or a little more money? LaRoche is 30 years old. He’s immediately the second-best hitter on the team. He plays a position where the Giants absolutely need a bat (unless there is some unknown 275/350/500 3B out there who can shift Sandoval to 1B), and he allows DeRosa to move to LF, where his below-average infield defense won’t hurt the Giants. Plus, as far as I can tell, the Giants have no ready replacement (at 1B, or at 3B) in their minor-league system…
I can absolutely see why LaRoche rejected the Giants offer. As a player, I’d rather get a one-year deal (so I could showcase my skills and hit the market again), or a 3+ year deal (so I have some job security). Two year deals are about as team-friendly as they get; LaRoche is probably just holding out for a three-year deal, whether it’s from the Giants, or some other team who will make the Giants look dumb for not offering a three-year, $24M deal.
I wouldn’t mind offering LaRoche a three-year, $24M deal. I totally agree with everything that you’ve said. I don’t believe however that he would be able to come to SF and showcase a one year contract. I think he knows if he’s going to come to the Giants it’s going to have to be a multi-year contract. It’s not easy to hit home-runs at AT&T.
I don’t see him signing with the O’s. We’ll either offer him a three-year deal soon or submit a similar two-year deal in a few weeks… maybe add on an option for the third year.
I really hope that he signs with the Giants. Mark DeRosa was a great pickup. I know Cubs fans were pissed that they lost him. I know though that he’s not the ONLY answer to the equation. I’d like to see another two free agents sign with the Giants before spring.
I agree its not as easy to hit home runs in AT&T but its also not quite as much of a dramatic difference for a left handed pull hitter to hit them out to right. So if he averaged 30 a year he might only get 26 in AT&T. LaRoche would be a very good signing for SF. He would give them another lefty in the lineup as well as protection for Sandoval. Very much worth a 3/25M deal.
And i may be a Cubs fan but ive also adopted the Giants. Kinda had to since the In-Laws are SF fans. And like i said before i loved the DeRo signing for you guys. I was more pissed when we traded him to baseball Purgatory aka Cleveland then i was when he signed with SF.
SF is 2 moves away from being a favorite out west. Add LaRoche and a catcher either by FA or trade. FA options Barajas or Torrealba would be ok even Jose Molina if you think Buster will be very good from the start. Trade option maybe Pittsburgh for Ryan Doumit who would give you more flexibility by being able to play 1st and RF if Posey gets off to a good start. Plus he is a switch hitter with power which is always nice to have.
I like the way you think. I am in much agreement with you. I’d love to lock LaRoche up in a three-year deal. I think it’s easy to be scared of that ballpark as a hitter, but I’ve seen players overcome it… i.e. J.T. Snow, Pablo, and of course Barry. Adam LaRoche would be no exception to concept.Let’s also not forget that 81 games are played outside AT&T.I agree with you on the catcher position to a certain extent. I think that we need to get somebody in there besides Eli Whiteside to take the reigns until Buster is ready to go. At the same time, Buster is going to need the at-bats to build the confidence to be the starting catcher by midway through the season. How he does is a HUGE factor in the Giants’ success this season. He may be no Joe Mauer, but if he shows half the promise? Check out that lineup…1. Rowand2. Sanchez3. LaRoche4. Sandoval5. DeRosa6. Posey7. Renteria/Uribe8. SchierholtzP.S. Only reason I took Velez/Torres out the lineup is because Sabean announce that they’re starting to think about putting Rowand in the leadoff spot in order to keep enough power in the lineup.
I haven’t bashed you in at least 2 months, Brian Sabean. Can I have Field Club tickets to opening day?
Of course you could buddy… They’ll only cost you $300 a pop on eBay. Lemme know when you get the tix and I’ll be sure to buy you a hot dog.
I’d prefer a “Say Hey Sausage”. I’ve never tried the Cha-Cha bowls. I usually give in and buy the “collectible cup” with my soda that gets thrown away a few months later.
You HAVE to try the crab sandwich. It’s incredible!
Besides… 75% of the proceeds go to Giants’ clubhouse management in order to pay for them NOT to spend more money on free agency.
not to get fellow giants fans even more depressed, but my concern is that this offer was given before derosa signed, and now derosa is “the bat” of the offseason. i never had the impression the giants had the money to sign both.
i could see him going to the o’s. what about the white sox, do they have the money to sign him and then make konerko their DH? or the angels?
Hey guys, how do you like this?
Velez – CF
Sanchez – 2B
Damon – LF
Sandoval – 1B
DeRosa – 3B
Schierholtz – RF
Posey – C
Renteria – SS
Ishikawa – 1B
Rowand – OF
Torres – OF
Uribe – SS, 2B, 3B
Whiteside – C
Lincecum
Zito
Cain
Sanchez
Bumgarner
Wilson
Affeldt
Romo
Runzler
Medders
Joaquin
Valdez
I like it, looks like a pretty solid team to me.
I like it, except for the part where the third best power hitter on the team is on the bench. And the part where Johnny Damon is on the team. And the part where Merkin Valdez is in the same hemisphere.
These are easy fixes, though. Start Rowand in CF, spend the Damon money on a free agent who isn’t riding a one-way ticket to the DH, put Joe Martinez in the bullpen as a long reliever, and jettison Merkin Valdez into OUTER SPACE.
No way Laroche is worth more than 2/$17MM! Fangraphs typically overvalues, and I think those who love this guy are swayed inordinately by his good games (which he certainly has) and forget his many bad games. That is a lot of money for a good glove but at-best-league-average-bat 1B.
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