5-tool Cuban OF'er declared a FA by MLB

[notmyfault]

I don't know much about him as a player, but he'll demand more than the giants' brass will be willing to spend. Damn you Rowand...

Source -- MLB teams must submit bids on Cuban free agent Jorge Soler by June 7 - ESPN Chicago

 

[Stokes1931]

scouting report indicates he is a classic right fielder with plus-plus power, a strong throwing arm and above average speed.

Yawn. We got plenty of those guys. Not interested.

 

[tzill]

I don't know much about him as a player, but he'll demand more than the giants' brass will be willing to spend. Damn you Rowand...

Source -- MLB teams must submit bids on Cuban free agent Jorge Soler by June 7 - ESPN Chicago

We disagree with your pantshatty logic fail.

Signed,

Matt Cain
Tim Lincecum
Barry Zito
Aubrey Huff
Aaron Rowand
Edgar Renteria

:arg:

 

[notmyfault]

We disagree with your pantshatty logic fail.

Signed,

Matt Cain
Tim Lincecum
Barry Zito
Aubrey Huff
Aaron Rowand
Edgar Renteria

:arg:

Wasn't insinuating that the Brass was cheap, more so that they have made it clear that they have no intentions of increasing the current budget.

 

[tzill]

Wasn't insinuating that the Brass was cheap, more so that they have made it clear that they have no intentions of increasing the current budget.

That's a case-by-case assessment. Sabeysabes has said that ownership would spend more money if there was a compelling case to do so. Last year, that was for Beltran. This year, it was to extend Cain, Vogey, and Pablo. If the braintrust thinks this Cuban dude is worth getting into a bidding war for, I can't see ownership saying "NO! No more money."

I'll guess that payroll will continue to expand until it's top 4 in MLB.

 

[msgkings322]

Our OF looks pretty set right now so unless this guy can play 1B or we intend to trade Pagan (or Melky!), we ain't bidding on him.

 

[filosofy29]

You always wonder if this kid is "19". Plus, with the Giants budget (we ain't cheap, but we aren't the YankSox either), I'm not a big fan of throwing big money at somebody who may or may not pan out. I realize that could be said of any FA, but at least there is a professional track record we can look at with FA's.

 

[SFAnthem]

Our OF looks pretty set right now so unless this guy can play 1B or we intend to trade Pagan (or Melky!), we ain't bidding on him.

Pagan and Melky free agency looming, both I hope they get signed and render this Soler moot

 

[tzill]

Pagan and Melky free agency looming, both I hope they get signed and render this Soler moot

I think we sign Leche for 3/45...Oxy is a wait-and-see...

 

[CameronFrye]

This kid is supposed to have plus power. I would rather take a chance on him than continue with the Blanco, Nate, Huff, Belt OF shuffle.

Blanco and Oxy can share center, Melky can play left and give this kid a chance to earn right field next year. Let him get seasoning in Triple-A for the rest of this year.

 

[Stokes1931]

This kid is supposed to have plus power. I would rather take a chance on him than continue with the Blanco, Nate, Huff, Belt OF shuffle.

Blanco and Oxy can share center, Melky can play left and give this kid a chance to earn right field next year. Let him get seasoning in Triple-A for the rest of this year.

I like it, except that our stadium would probably not appeal to a guy with plus power. If he could hit 30 HR's here, imagine what he could do in that bandbox the Reds play in, or Fenway, or the new Spankee Stadium. I would guess that he is not looking only at dollars, but at a winning team, and a chance to make a mark statistically. We may have the first two, but perhaps not the last one.

I think our current team could use a decent HR hitter, but for now, I am pretty content with the OF. They are the kind of players designed for this ballpark. There may be a time when the Giants hit more triples than homers.

 

[msgkings322]

This kid is supposed to have plus power. I would rather take a chance on him than continue with the Blanco, Nate, Huff, Belt OF shuffle.

Blanco and Oxy can share center, Melky can play left and give this kid a chance to earn right field next year. Let him get seasoning in Triple-A for the rest of this year.

What shuffle? Huff is done except for spot starts at 1B, Nate is the 4th OF, Belt is the 1B for now. Blanco is locked in. Most importantly Blanco is the best pure leadoff hitter we've had since forever, and that includes Torres in 2010. The OF is quite set.

As others mentioned, it's only for this year, maybe they think they can save on say Pagan by signing this guy instead. Interestingly the As made a similar gamble on Cespedes, especially with their low payroll. But then the As have to gamble to compete, they can't build a team over time the way we can.

As internet complainers, sure we can all say "bid on him! sign him! it's not our money!". The reality is OF is not our problem this year.

 

[filosofy29]

This kid is supposed to have plus power. I would rather take a chance on him than continue with the Blanco, Nate, Huff, Belt OF shuffle.

Blanco and Oxy can share center, Melky can play left and give this kid a chance to earn right field next year. Let him get seasoning in Triple-A for the rest of this year.

I don't understand your line of thinking here Cam. You say you don't want to continue the "Blanco, Nate, Huff, Belt" OF shuffle", but then say that this kid will be up next year if signed and progressing well through AAA. I think there's a good chance that Huff (absolutely) and Nate (I estimate 50/50 currently, but depending on how the rest of this season pans out) aren't on the team next season. Belt will be a 1B next season as he is almost exactly that now this season. Presumably, RF will be a battle between Blanco and a FA or one of the kids called up from AAA. If Blanco (a big if) can keep up this level of play the rest of the year, I'd be more than happy to keep him as the starting RF next year.

Who knows if this young man will even pan out and the Giants would have to pony up roughly $30M just to see? That's a really expensive experiment. I'd rather spend that money on a FA with a proven MLB track record. It doesn't always work out (see Rowand), but I'd rather take my chances with a MLB FA than a Cuban defect FA. I think Melky could easily play RF in our park, so that would open up the Giants offseason search to LF or RF this offseason.

 

[CameronFrye]

What I meant by the Blanco, Belt, Huff, Nate OF shuffle is that I don't want to see a platoon next season. The names might not be the same but the idea needs to change. The Gants need someone WITH POWER to take the job full-time.

I don't want an OF that includes Blanco and Oxy next season. Period. One can stay. The other has to go. The Giants NEED power from at least one OF spot next year. If it takes 4 years and $25-30 mil to bring this kid in, then do it. He will be a lot cheaper than any decent FA bat the Giants would target in the offseason.

And Stokes - Soler is EXACTLY the kind of player the Giants should target. He will take the most money while other, more established FAs will turn down the Giants because of the park. save an should go get this kid now.

 

[mistgl]

The kid is only 20, and super 'Raw'. He's no Cespedes, who has enough experience to where he can learn at the mlb level on the fly.

 

[tzill]

And Cam makes the assumption that he and/or his agent are unaware of AT&T and how it can deflate RHH power numbers.

Unlikely.

 

[CameronFrye]

And Cam makes the assumption that he and/or his agent are unaware of AT&T and how it can deflate RHH power numbers.

Unlikely.

No. I am making the assumption that this kid and his agent will take the most money regardless of where it comes from. Highly likely.

 

[tzill]

No. I am making the assumption that this kid and his agent will take the most money regardless of where it comes from. Highly likely.

But don't you think it's possible that we could make a competitive offer and get turned down for the same reason that a FA would? And it's not just the park -- the kid is likely going to the AL, which is where the hitters are going now. Smaller parks, better hitting lineups around them, DH rule for "days off."

I hate the AL.

 

[filosofy29]

Looking at the list of FA's from Cot's, I think I'd rather stick with the speed/defense route. Maybe try and sign guys like Michael Bourn and Howie Kendrick (with the money that would have been used for this Cuban kid) and then re-up Melky and Pagan. Move Melky over to RF (due to his arm strength) and put Pagan in LF. We'd be short on power for sure, but if we had a bunch of .275 - .300+ hitters and a bunch of speed.....

Bourne - CF
Oxy - LF
Melkman - RF
Gerald - C
Panda - 3B
Belt - 1B
Kendrick - 2B
Crawford - SS

I'd be ok with the above.

 

[msgkings322]

Looking at the list of FA's from Cot's, I think I'd rather stick with the speed/defense route. Maybe try and sign guys like Michael Bourn and Howie Kendrick (with the money that would have been used for this Cuban kid) and then re-up Melky and Pagan. Move Melky over to RF (due to his arm strength) and put Pagan in LF. We'd be short on power for sure, but if we had a bunch of .275 - .300+ hitters and a bunch of speed.....

Bourne - CF
Oxy - LF
Melkman - RF
Gerald - C
Panda - 3B
Belt - 1B
Kendrick - 2B
Crawford - SS

I'd be ok with the above.

I think the brass will pray for Blanco to stay solid all year so they can save money not signing another leadoff guy.

Lots of baseball yet this year and we're already planning the 2013 roster?