Baseball: Five Free Agent Signings That Make Sense (At Least in My Head)

1. Jason Giambi to the Giants

I know, I know, he can't play defense. The obvious down side of this deal is that the Giants would be stuck playing the Giambino at first base 120-130 times a season, which is ugly at best.

But think about it this way: The Giants just went out and spent roughly $30 million on three players: shortstop Edgar Renteria, reliever Bobby Howry, and reliever Jeremy Affeldt. The Giants obviously think they can compete in 2009, especially given their starting pitching and revamped bullpen.

But the one thing the Giants are sorely lacking is a power hitter. Giambi fits the mold: He walks a lot, gets on base, has lots of power, and is left-handed. Last season, the Giants' anemic offense ranked last in home runs, 14th in on-base percentage, and 15th in runs scored in the National League. Yikes...those are terrible numbers.

Furthermore, Giambi would probably only command a one-year contract in this market, which makes him all the more appealing to Giants GM Brian Sabean.

2. Adam Dunn to the Athletics

Dunn is exactly the kind of player GM Billy Beane craves: He walks a lot, hits tons of home runs, and has a high OBP. In most years, Dunn would have been one of the most coveted free agents out there, but because of the economy teams are shying away from handing Dunn the long-term contract he seeks.

This would be a great time for the Athletics to dive in and sign Dunn. First of all, after trading for Matt Holliday, the Athletics are clearly going for it in 2009 and a lineup with both Dunn and Holliday would be potent and powerful.

Second, it is likely the Athletics would not have to give Dunn a long-term contract. He would actually be better off signing with a team like Oakland for a season and then testing the free agent market again in 2009. Once again, this is the perfect scenario for the normally frugal Athletics to make a big splash.

And selfishly I want to see this deal happen because having Adam Dunn and Jack Cust on the same team would be amazing. Think about it, they are both slow, power hitting, walk machines who strikeout a lot and cannot hit for average. There is no doubt that the Athletics would lead the league in walks, strikeouts, and maybe even OBP and home runs. How cool would that be?

3. Jon Garland to the Cardinals

The Cardinals struck gold last season when they signed starter Kyle Lohse during spring training to a modest one-year, $4 million deal. The move shored up the Cardinals rotation and allowed St. Louis to compete for a playoff spot into September.

I think signing Garland would be a shrewd move for the Cardinals, a lot like signing Lohse was a year ago. You get what you're going to get with Garland: very few strikeouts, lots of innings, lots of hits, very few walks, and lots of ground balls.

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