Who are these magical AAA players you speak of that are ready to replace guys like Belt and Blanco and Pence? I agree all 3 players have flaws but you started this by saying $10 million was too much to spend on Pagan, so how much do you think upgrades in RF and 1B would cost? And who are these players you’d replace them with? Pence wants a longterm deal but the Giants are going with his last year of arbitration for now because they don’t want to overpay a guy who struggled down the stretch and into the playoffs. His track record suggests he will be better but if he’s not they can move on in 2014. There aren’t players on the FA market that would upgrade RF or 1B, and Blanco is a cheap option that serves the Giants needs in LF. The only way to upgrade 1B and RF would be via trade, and as I mentioned before the Giants don’t have many blue chip prospects (and they need the best ones they have to replace Lincecum and Zito in the next 2 years).

The Giants are slipping behind the big money Dodgers and the future big money Padres? You’re kidding right? Dodgers will probably be better but for now they are a collection of talented yet fragile players with a thin and overpaid pitching staff. And I seriously have no idea where you’re getting the future big money Padres thing from. San Francisco is a much bigger market than San Diego and the Giants own 30% of their broadcast partner so I can’t imagine a TV deal that the Padres could ever sign that would be worth more than what the Giants will get from TV revenues. You clearly don’t know a lot about any of the teams in the NL West.

Could lock him up like Mauer. $23 mil for an injured catcher is a bad deal on a small market team (even though the ownership is nearly the richest in MLB) so why isn’t Posey paid? Either he isn’t tied to the team, wants huge $$, the team doesn’t think he can pay out over the contract or the team thinks they can get more $$ by trading him in two years.

He already helped get two rings for the team while getting MLB peanuts. That has a way of pissing a guy off. Pagan’s money should go to Posey if anyone. They missed the window to deal Timmy, he’s gone after this year. So now you have Cain, Bum, Pablo, and Pagan as your “core” and stringing out Posey on Arb numbers for the next 3 years.

Timmy shows the value on year-to-year arb numbers – even with his previous 2 year deal. Posey has the hardware to set arb records for a position player. Until the Giants cut ties with the one-year-wonders and lock up the pre-arb guys (like they did with Bum) for the right dough, they will ride the wave to the bottom of the NL West behind the big $$ Dodgers, soon to be big $$ Padres. AZ and the Rockies won’t be going away either.

Like I said, it’s one thing to disagree with a deal or say a guy is being overpaid or will regress and it’s something totally different to actually come up with a better solution. Juan Pierre’s OPS has been over .750 twice in his career (most recently in 2004). Pagan has been over .750 3 of the last 4 years. And Pierre’s also 3 years older than Pagan. I actually think Blanco is a better player right now than Pierre, though I’ll concede it’s close and I wouldn’t argue too much if you said Pierre was better.

The only point I was trying to make with the Yankee comparison is that big name sluggers don’t automatically equal quality offense or winning games if the trade off is that you can’t pitch, play defense, or run the basis. The Giants, in large part due to the park they play in, have emphasized all those traits ahead of power and it’s working out pretty well for them.

Oh wait, I didn’t say anything about power so the late-90′s Yankees don’t have anything to do with anything – least of all their top 10 runs scored figure every season.

Ignore the salute and look at the stats – Pagan’s essentially played 5 full seasons spread over 7 years in MLB while averaging .280/.333/.420 and 20 SB which is a touch better than a “replacement player” offensive stats and his defense is the same. He’s 31 and not getting better. He looked overmatched in the World Series, 2 for 4 in game 1 then 0-12 with 4K’s and terrible routes on flyballs. He has been a head case for the Cubs and Mets and is the same for the Giants.

If you’re going to overpay, pay for a potentially great player, not one that maxes out at 95 R 8 HR 56 RBI and 29 SB. Juan Pierre could have filled your lead off spot better and for peanuts and then get a real hitter for the middle of the lineup.

Here’s the thing with the Giants and offense: Pagan is not a traditional corner OF in the sense that he has a ton of power. But the Giants play in a ballpark that saps power, particularly for LH hitters, and waiting for the 3 run HR is really not the way they play. Pagan is not an ideal corner OF for a lot of teams but because of the way he plays defense (admittedly he’s not an elite CF but he covers ground and has a decent arm and would be well above average in LF or RF), uses the gaps to hit for extra bases, and steals bases, he fits into the style they play and the ballpark they play in extremely well when used at the top of the lineup.

The Giants aren’t a team that’s going to blow people away with power and instead have focused on building a team with individuals that don’t take anything off the table. With the exception of Posey and Sandoval everyone on the team can at least run well enough to go 1st to 3rd on a single or score from 1B on a double. They’re at least average defensively at every position and above average at C, SS, 1B, and LF (assuming Blanco plays there regularly). They went through the playoffs by pitching well, scoring enough, and not beating themselves either on the bases or in the field. The rotation is still strong whether Lincecum bounces back or not, the bullpen is still deep even without Wilson, and the lineup right now is probably league average or slightly above in terms of runs scored. Is pitching and defense a recipe for repeated postseason success when you don’t hit for a ton of power? I don’t know for sure but that formula seemed to work out pretty well for the Yankees in the late 90′s.

(I’m not saying the Giants are in the midst of late 90′s Yankee level run of success, just that people forget those teams weren’t stacked with 35-40 HR sluggers and instead relied on pitching, defense, and limiting mistakes)

The Giants bitched about not having the dough to get the offense and sat Rowand and Zito (while still winning the WS I know), but aside from the up-and-down Bumgardner, where’s the pitching to save their ass after this season? Another $10 mil wasted on Pagan with Timmy at 22.25, Cain 20.8, and Zito with another 20 this year and 7 next, and Posey needs dough, when will the offense be addressed? One pitching injury and this team is toast. One offense injury and the team is toast – see 2011 with Posey.

With a nearly paid off stadium (mostly private $$) and the cash out from the Oakland situation, when will the team pay to stay on top? Or will they just sell it off?

$5M signing bonus
$7M 2013
$9/$9/$10 into 2015.

So technically $10M a year, but it keeps his value in check with most for his level of production last year. He is a speed guy we need on base in the leadoff spot and we could move him to the corner OF spots eventually. Just hope he continues with his hit streak now that he will be the starting day leadoff guy. The drop off in his performance after his hot start to the season came when he was primarily in the 5th spot…if memory serves me well.

Glad to have him back and looking forward to Scutaro coming back as well…hopefully. Then all we need are more bullpen arms and a good draft to pick up some starting pitchers for the future. With Lincecum not signed long term and Vogelsong on the wrong side of 30, and Zito coming towards the end of his contract…the starting pitching will need some new life in a couple years.