Quickee Giants News

Found some facts in this article at the Contra Costa Times. Why it wasn't carried in the Merc, which is a sister publication to the Times and they appear to be sharing writers too, I don't know, just a pain since I subscribe to the Merc. I had to find this via a rumor site on Fox Sports.

Marcopolo had it basically right, Bonds will have $5.8M deferred to 2008, and any incentives he hits will be deferred to 2009 (up to $4.2M). So take another $0.8M off the 2008 available budget (though I assumed $500K per young player so it might all even out).

Also, the article noted that the Giants that their budget will stay at "$95M for the foreseeable future." And, nice to get confirmation of this, but Magowan said "increased revenues from MLB Advanced Media, the new television deal and the sale of the Montreal Expos allowed the club to boost its budget." MLBAM is their name for their internet operations, covering their TV and other media products via the internet plus the on-line store. I had read about the new TV deal but only from other posters and not from one of the well-known baseball sites I frequent (not that I read each and every post, so perhaps they did post it, but I just haven't read it anywhere until today), so I didn't want to count that in unless I heard a credible source for this news. I probably missed the news at The Hardball Times, they run a regular column on the Business of Baseball by a member of SABR's Business of Baseball Committee.

Lastly, the article noted that Benitez wants a trade and, if he is healthy in spring training, could rejoin the Marlins, with the Marlins giving us $1-2M PLUS, amazingly enough, Yusmeiro Petit, who is a very promising young pitcher that they got, I think, from the Red Sox in their big trade. That would be a SUPER trade for us, getting rid of a cancer, getting some money back, plus a top prospect who would probably be at or near the top of our prospect list (though I'm not sure if his IP makes him not a rookie anymore, but he's still unproven, though very, very promising; I had him on my fantasy league last season and he was a good reliever for the Marlins, over all). He would definitely be worth paying most of Benitez's salary, better than signing any prospect for that much bonus money.

OK, this is the last item. Looking at the article, Zito was quoted saying, "Oakland fans, if you guys are bored while the A's are out of town, come on over," Zito said Wednesday. "I think we've got some seats for you." Why just the days the A's are out of town? True, usually when the A's are out of town, the Giants are playing at home, and vice-versa, but why not have the A's fans come to SF when they are both at home? :^)