The Giants face one contract option after the season. Shortstop Edgar Renteria has a $10.5MM club option with a $500K buyout. Even with a bounceback year, the Giants figure to decline. The Giants could re-sign Renteria at a lower price, or look at other free agents.
Plenty of the team's patchwork free agent signings will be eligible again: Bengie Molina, Juan Uribe, Aubrey Huff, Todd Wellemeyer, and Guillermo Mota. The group is earning $12.5MM in 2010.
Increases to players under contract total about $10MM, for Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, and Brian Wilson. Jonathan Sanchez is the key arbitration-eligible player; it'll be his second time.
The Giants increased payroll by almost $14MM this year. They'd have $8-9MM to play with holding payroll steady, so maybe a smaller increase is in order for 2011.
Thanks to Cot's Baseball Contracts for the info.
Decline the option and let all of the free agents go.
Posey needs to be given the everyday job at catcher, he’s already better than Molina. As for the other guys, they’re just not worth bringing back unless the price is essentially negligible. They really need to add a high-quality offensive outfielder or first baseman, but everyone knows that already.
posey will be the catcher next year. that will shed a few million with bengie gone. they just need to find more bats again. just like the last few years.
Yeah, a lot of people should be fired if Posey isn’t their catcher by 2011.
I think he will be called up after the 30 day mark…
If I remember correctly, I think another reason Posey is getting one more year of seasoning to delay his arbitration date. They won’t have to fork over the barrel of cash that he will deserve a year later. So we will see him in September at The Show.
The Giants are hoping to get some production from their top level prospects in the minor leagues. I would not be surprised to see 3 Rookies on the 2011 team. Buster Posey, Brandon Crawford and Madison Bumgarner are all candidates to make the team next year IF they have solid seasons this year.
These guys will replace Molina, Renteria, Wellemeyer and one of the surplus outfielders. I think you will see a few roster changes from now until 2011 Opening Day. Some of these fringe guys are going to be shown the door. Hopefully Bowker can earn an everyday job in the outfield by season’s end.
The only SS that would be a fit for the Giants that could possibly be available would be Jose Reyes. I dont think that the option for Jose Reyes is a 100% lock. The Mets are in an odd situation with what to do with their team, Reyes has had some injury problems, and most people could realistically see a Fire Sale if they decide to go a different direction with their GM. Reyes could FINALLY give the Giants a leadoff man and play solid defense for them.
2011 giants could be pretty impressive if he was the lone player added from outside of the organization.
C Posey, 1B Sandoval, 2B Sanchez, SS Reyes, 3B Crawford, LF DeRosa, CF Rowand, RF Bowker
SP Lincecum, SP Zito, SP Cain, SP Sanchez, SP Bumgarner
CL Wilson, SU Affeldt, Late Inning Guys: Runzler, Romo, Joaquin
RE: “I would not be surprised to see 3 Rookies on the 2011 team. Buster Posey, Brandon Crawford and Madison Bumgarner are all candidates to make the team next year IF they have solid seasons this year.”
If that were the case, then why wouldn’t Posey & Bumgarner be in San Francisco *THIS* year? They both had phenomenal minor league seasons in 2009, but alas, they are in Fresno.
In three minor league seasons, Crawford has just 11 home runs. His fielding percentage over that same period (.971) is average at best. You need better numbers than that to play third base at the big league level, son.
Well son, if you knew more about the prospects we are talking about here, you would understand that Bumgarner is still 21 years old, they want Posey to get more innings behind the plate (i dont believe he needs it, but that was the Giants concern about him) and Brandon Crawford is know to be a great fielder. Ask anyone who saw him in spring training. The guy has great range and a really strong arm. Majority of his errors were in Single A and they were throwing errors. If you listen to anyone that knows these guy’s game, then you would here how they think his glove will get him to the ML as a short stop if needed. He is also expected to contribute with his bat…not everyone needs to hit HRs.
I DID see Crawford play in ST last month. But you are wrong about where the errors occurred. Of the 17 errors Crawford made last year, only three were at Class-A San Jose. The other 14 were at AA Connecticut.
All I’m trying to say here is that there are not too many leadoff hitting third basemen in the Majors. Chone Figgins comes to mind (when he was with Anaheim)…..but Brandon Crawford is not Figgins.
The Giants would be better off putting Crawford at shortstop and dropping him to the No. 8 hole in the lineup where his bat belongs. I would much rather see them move Pablo Sandoval to first base and go after a Garrett Atkins or Aramis Ramirez and stay away from Jose Reyes who has proven to be to much of an injury-risk (we already got enough of them guys on our roster).
I’m pretty sure Posey’s clock is being delayed and Madison had some velocity issues if I recall correctly. I agree with you that Crawford won’t be a starting 3B anywhere if his numbers in AA last year are what he continues to put up. (Btw Fangraphs says he only has 10 career HR)
Fangraphs needs to update their page. Crawford had 10 career minor league HRs prior to 2010, but he hit his 11th career homer for the Richmond Flying Squirrels (AA) yesterday.
let the free agents go.
bring up Posey, Crawford and Bumgarner.
try to trade for or sign Jose Reyes if he is let go from his option year with the Mets.
SS Reyes
2B Sanchez
C Posey
1B Sandoval
LF DeRosa
RF Bowker
CF Rowand
3B Crawford
SP Lincecum, Zito, Cain, Sanchez, Bumgarner
Buster Posey will obviously replace Bengie Molina behind the dish. There’s a real possibility that Pablo Sandoval will need to move across the diamond and play first. If so Mark DeRosa is capable of playing third.
If available, Carl Crawford and Jayson Werth should be two free agent outfielders to target. That’s also if the Giants would open their purse strings. And of course there will be plenty of competition for those free agents.
I think Crawford would fit exactly what Brian Sabean has always been looking for: speed, lead-off, some pop, defense, relatively healthy, and given our triples alley, Crawford could get 30 playing for us. And he plays LF, which could be open for the Giants as you note.
He’ll be the litmus test of whether Neukom really stands by what he said about baseball decisions trumping budget. Crawford would be that final good piece to go into the lineup, the great leadoff hitter, to go with Posey batting 3rd and Sandoval batting 4th, and DeRosa batting 5th (and probably Rowand batting 6th, where he would be OK). He would make too much sense, but would cost an arm and a leg.
There is no way the Giants can afford him with the budget we have today, so it would require Neukom to expand the budget, for a baseball decision like that to be made. I’m hoping he holds to his word and make this happen, the Giants are not afraid of spending money, so competition should not scare them.
How odd, I selected to reply to Bye Bye Baby Bonanza, and that is what the text said, then it listed under my comment…
I remember reading that Carl prefers not to bat leadoff. Other than that yeah he’d fit with SF if they were willing to pay, and if they had issues about cost they could possibly get Werth for a little cheaper and while he’s not a leadoff guy he’s a good power bat with good defense that the Giants could use.
I tried to put it again under Bye-Bye and it just did it again…
No one should really assume that all of the free agents on this list will be turned loose after 2010. It’s possible that the only minor leaguer who comes up and has a role on the 2011 roster is Posey, as Bumgarner has gotten off to a bad start in AAA, and the rest of their talent may not be ready until 2012 (Neal, Kieschnick, Crawford, etc.). They may keep Uribe around next year to handle SS after letting Renteria go until Crawford or someone else is ready. And if Huff pans out better than expected and doesn’t get a high-dollar offer, he may stay another year as well given how well things are working in the clubhouse with this group right now.
As for the #5 starter spot, the Giants will have at least 3 or 4 in-house options next season, so unless Wellemeyer really opens some eyes this year, he and Mota, and yes Molina would be the only definite departures heading into 2011.
I agree that Renteria won’t have his option picked up, but if he has a year like he had when he was with the Braves, he’s probably going to get a big contract somewhere. The issue for the Giants is whether Crawford will be ready to start in 2011, and the main issue is his bat, his defense is supposedly good enough for the majors now. Given how much he strikes out, I’m not hopeful that he’ll be ready, so I can see a 2 year for $7-9M per year contract offer for Renteria from the Giants.
In any case, looking over the free agent list, I don’t really see anyone I would want more if Renteria has a good year and look like the hitter he once was.
If the Mets let Reyes go, you have to think that his health is so bad that they felt it was better to let him go than to pay $11M, which is not that much really, if he’s even half the player he was before, so that would be a huge red flag to me if he’s just let go by the Mets.
I think most of the Giants free agents will be let go or un-resignable. Molina should be gone, but I’m glad he was signed because Posey is not necessarily ready for the majors – Weiters looked ready and looked at how poorly he hit until the last two weeks of September – and if Posey hit that poorly as the starter the Giants chances to win in 2010 would be screwed. In addition, it could benefit the Giants should they make the World Series, as Posey could then be our DH, as I think his time in AAA should prepare him to hit well once he is called up, and playing part-time in the second half of 2010 would leave him fresh during the playoffs, should the Giants make it there.
Wellemeyer, Mota, and Uribe should be gone. Bumgarner should be ready by 2011 and take over for Wellemeyer, heck, Wellemeyer could be gone this season if Bumgarner does well enough (unfortunately he was beat up in his first start, so he’s probably going to need all season in AAA). Mota is probably gone, the Giants have a lot of cheap prospects doing well in relief roles, particularly Henry Sosa, who was lights out in spring, and Bautista did well too. Uribe, if he hits well again, should be gone to another team for a starting job somewhere, and if he hits like he did before 2009, the Giants should let him go unless he resigns for his 2009 salary, which I don’t see happening.
Huff is a question mark. If he hits this well all season, the Giants probably wants him back, unless Ishikawa somehow hits well in a reserve role (I don’t think that is likely, I think he needs regular play to keep his bat consistent), and some of the money they save on others will go to him, as I don’t think he’ll sign for another $3M unless he really, really loves playing here.
And, as others noted, Sandoval could end up moving to 1B, with DeRosa moving to 3B, where he was a defensive plus previously, and the Giants, with all their OF prospects, particularly Thomas Neal, who could be ready by next season with a good season in Richmond (off to good start), plus Schierholtz should still be around, and I think they will keep Lewis around too. There is also the possibility they could try to start Ishikawa in LF, they did try to play him there in spring.
There is also another angle. I think Nick Noonan is ready to bust out in 2010, and if he does, he could be ready to start 2B in 2011. In that scenario, it would be Sanchez moving to 3B, where he was plus defensively before.
I think Jonathan Sanchez, with a good season, will probably get a 2 year contract to cover his last two arb-seasons, plus a team option for his first year in free agency. They might even try to go 2 years in.
I also think that if Sandoval has another season anything close to what he did last season will probably get a long-term contract covering most if not all his arb-seasons. 3 seasons seems likely, but the Giants have been going more shorter-term lately, so I don’t know if they’ll go 4.
The key is that Neukom has promised to open the purses up if there are good baseball decisions to be made, even if the move would expand the budget. They have had a nestegg that they have been saving for a rainy day (it was available to sign Greg Maddux for $7M per year many years back), plus they have been generating good operating profits in recent years, which should have added to that egg. I think the contract for Cain shows that they are willing to put out money for their top young players as necessary, and will expand the budget as needed, else the budget is already pretty much committed and we would return to Bonds’ final years where they stumbled around.
I think Neukom will find the money, somewhere, to fund a championship team, he’s actually older than Peter McGowan, who “left” to play with his grandchildren, and he won’t be owner for more than 5-10 years, at best. With his high-tech background (former Microsoft head lawyer), he knows a lot of people with a lot of money, and I am hoping he will be selling partial ownership each year to help fund an expanded budget.
Well reasoned answer, obsessivegiantscompulsive, but I think Lewis is gone. The A’s seem to need a seventh outfielder :-). But seriously, he needs to play where his OBP is recognized as the asset it is, and that doesn’t seem likely in S.F. (sadly).
There is no way you pick up Renteria’s option. Even if he ends up hitting over .300 average wise, he is a liability on defense that you cannot have at a key position like shortstop. Uribe is a better option who should take over for Renteria this season. Wellemeyer is a fill in only, and he probably will not be around next season too. Same with Mota.
Two things i dont get.
1) Why the hate for mota. Hes probly been our most consistent reliever all year, he has been great and i wouldnt mind having him around next year.
2) Is the love for Crawford. The gy can play SS today in the big leagues at a high level. Most of his errors are throwing errors he has great hands and a cannon for an arm. But if oyu think he can hit in the big leagues next yeaar you guys are terribly mistaken. He would hit in the 100s with a few homeruns and would strike out 40% of the time. Ive played with the kid for years and am pretty good friends with him. Kids got all the tools on the world but still needs to put them all together and show some consistency and the ability to hit lefties.