My Concerns About The San Francisco Giants

Wow. This offseason has been a welcomed surprise. Brian Sabean, for once, has been aggressive in signing free agents to help the offense. I have to applaud he for it, to a point.

Since posting my last article, Sabean has made a few major moves, such as signing third baseman Mark DeRosa and first baseman Aubry Huff. By adding these two players, he has increased the strength of the offense considerably.

I was confused when DeRosa was signed because I figured he would take over at third. That, of course, meant that Pablo Sandoval would move to first base. It’s not that I think Sandoval is a bad first baseman, but he is incredible at third, why move him.

Then they re-signed utility man Juan Uribe. At the time, DeRosa was talked about as being an utility man as well. It didn’t add up in my head.

It wasn’t until Sabean signed Huff that I realized what the Giants were thinking. With Huff at first, there was no way they were going to move Sandoval away from third. It hadn’t occurred to me that DeRosa could play in left field.

I have to stop and voice my concern about what Sabean has done. Just hear me out.

Say the Giants didn’t sign DeRosa. Eugenio Velez, I feel, would be playing in left. Granted, Velez is young and prone to making mistakes, but he is also fast and very skilled. In a ball park like AT&T, speed helps a lot more than power.

Look, DeRosa is a great player, but he is getting old. His batting ave is dropping significantly. I think Velez is better suited as the everyday left fielder, offensively and defensively. I just don’t see DeRosa coming off the the bench to pinch hit on a daily basis.

I have no problem with the Huff signing. In fact, they made the right move in adding him to the roster.

When everything was going so well, Sabean goes and makes a big mistake. Yes, I am talking about the re-signing of catcher Bengie Molina.

This is actually more telling then it appears.

First, it says to the fans that Buster Posey is not ready to be a major league catcher.

Second, no other catcher wanted to come here. Sure, Molina is a top 5 defensive catcher in the league, but he can’t run. The Giants are better off without him and the Giants need all the speed they can get.

Third, and this is a big one. Buster Posey is the future catcher of the Giants. They have a problem on their hands if he is not ready by the end of this year. Signing Molina tells me that there is not one catcher who can play every day in the farm system.

Putting that aside, my other concerns are with the pitching.

Like I said in a previous article, I am worried about the bullpen. Releasing Justin Miller is a huge mistake. He was one of their strongest relievers and they let him go. Good teams don’t do that.

Trading Merkin Valdez for cash is a joke, but it gets rid of one problem.

I just can’t get my head around why Sabean is keeping Joe Martinez. 7.50 era is not good for any pitcher! Oh, he is the long reliever/sixth starter. I hate to think what would happen if he is better than Madison Bumgarner!

In order for me to have full confidence in this team, Sabean needs to get another pitcher preferably a middle to long reliever. Unless he does, I foresee that this will be a long year for Giants fans.