How Giants Fans Should Approach the Off-Season

Great post by Grant on McCovey Chronicles! As I commented there, I wish I had written it.

I agreed with almost everything. However, the direction, to me, is clear: younger, healthier, long term commitment.

The problem is the budget is not large enough, the free agent market is not good enough to enable the Giants do this whole hog, and the farm system is still a young deer struggling to find its balance and stance after coming out of the womb, it is full of potential but not mature enough to evaluate conclusively, and there is not much you can do with it yet other than to pat it on the head and be a proud papa.

So the Giants will have this general guidance in strategy - younger, healthier, long term - but tactically will have to sign players who are not younger, healthier, and for a short term, to fill in gaps in the roster. And, as Sabean noted in interviews, the Giants will not block any position where they feel there are potential prospects coming up, and seek longer term solutions for the other positions.

Then the $64,000 question, as Grant noted astutely, is who are the ones whose paths are not to be blocked? Frandsen is one who some fans could accept as starter, platoon starter, or AAA starter, and wouldn't be too fazed. But only Linden looks like he might be ready for his closeup.

Others who look like they might make it are Lewis, EME, Schierholtz, Ishikawa, and Ortmeier, but there are bigger question marks like Sanders, Sandoval, Maroul, Schoop, Horwitz, Burriss, and Villalona, among others (not sure who else impressed this season) down further in the farm system who could come up and make it but are too far down to be judged a future major leaguer for sure yet. But clearly, none of these players are a sure bet to make the majors when and if they get their chance to play in the majors.

So that will drive speculation for this off-season too: whichever positions the Giants end up not filling with a long-term solution, is it because there is a prospect who might be blocked and if so, who, or is it because of a poor free agent pool?