The Giants look to be on the attack mode early. They have already signed Jeremy Affeldt to a two year, 8 million dollar contract. They also have been reported to be in the hunt for many other free agents, including C.C. Sabathia, Mark Texiera, Orlando Hudson, and especially Rafael Furcal. Furcal has narrowed the teams he wants to go to, down to four and the Giants are one of the four.
Now, I don't completely understand the move for Affeldt. I know the Giants want to bolster there bullpen but I don't really see any improvement with this move. The Giants were tied for 14th in ERA with a 4.45. They just picked up a guy who has a career 4.55 ERA. I don't say any bolstering going on there. He also has a losing record. If they really wanted to improve there bullpen then they shouldn't have signed this guy. All we can hope for now is that he rights his ship and has a great season.
Furcal is a lot better fit. He would fill a hole and add some pop to the lineup. For his size he has a lot of power. He also has one of the strongest arms at short in the league. Since Ivan Ochoa is no longer with the team we didn't have a youngster to fill the spot. Furcal would also give us a true leadoff man. A thing we've been looking for for over three years. Let's just hope he doesn't pick the team across the bay.
I hope that the Giants aren't finished after these two moves because we are still in need of a third/first basemen (Pablo Sandoval will fill the other spot). We also need some more bullpen bolstering and another big bat. Maybe we could sneak a trade in there for another player. Say a pitcher for a batter.
Talk to you next week.
The Spring Training schedule for 2009 is out and here is the link.
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