What's really going on out there?

I apologize for the lack of posts recently, especially while the winter meetings were going on in Indy. Guess it didn't really matter in the long run because nothing really happened. It seems like the Scott Borasization of the Meetings mean that nothing gets done. Of course this results in no one even considering the first offer they receive, fair or not. Then there's a lot of subtle and not-so-subtle rumor spreading and denials. It's all just smoke and mirrors-- a veritable pissing contest as to who can look the busiest without accomplishing jack while trying to be the only one not to pop open a tube of Rolaids after hitting the hotel buffet 4 days in a row.

Probably the most interesting thing to happen was Chone-nee Figgins leaving Anaheim to a division rival for a below-market 4yr./$36MM. My question is why didn't Sabean go after him? We were never linked to him, and it makes very little sense. I understand the preference to keep Panda at 3rd and everything, but Figgins's OBP, speed, and versatility would have been huge. And at $9MM a year, that put's him squarely between Renteria's $8MM and Rowand's $12MM contract disasters. A complete bargain when you think about it...

Anyway, for those of you reading who don't regularly feast your eyes on MLBTradeRumors.com or read the good folks over at El Lefty Malo or McCovey Chronicles, I'm going to do a quick rundown here of what's going on here. Obviously I'm no insider, but when you hear the same things over and over again, it becomes real.

No chance/no interest: Matt Holliday, Jason Bay, Johnny Damon

Interest but: slim chance/too expensive/too old/too useless: Jermaine Dye, Adrian Beltre, Scott Podsednik, Kevin Kouzmanoff (via Trade), Xavier Nady, Mike Cameron, Dioner Navarro, Gerald Laird (via Trade)

In pursuit/mutual interest: Mark DeRosa, Dan Uggla (via Trade), Juan Uribe, Miguel Olivo, Yorvit Torrealba, Nick Johnson

One thing to take from recent happenings is that the Gyros like Mark DeRosa a lot (Although Andrew Baggarly has suggested that it's posturing to lower Uggla's price). He's solid with the glove, versatile and has significant pop. He's basically the perfect baseball player... I only wish he was a few years younger. Unfortunately deep-pocketed teams recognize DeRosa's value-- teams like Boston and the Yankees. A DeRosa signing would mean any number of combinations could occur in the infield as he can play everywhere but short, catcher, and center.

The Jermaine Dye idea appears to be dead in the water, but there are some absurd Scott Podsednik rumors floating around if you're into White Sox OF's on the decline.

As for Dan Uggla, the issue is this. Florida would prefer to pocket a fat revenue check than pay its good players in arbitration. Therefore, the powerful second baseman is available. The problem of course is that the Fish want Bumgarner.

Yeaahhhhh... no... we're not going to that. Uggla is horrendous in the field, posting a UZR/150 of -9.6 with 16 errors. And despite his Bondsian (compared to what we have now) power numbers in a cavernous ballpark, his .243 average scares me. He does, however chalk up a ton of free passes, as he walked 92 times in 668 plate appearances.

Basically Uggla is a smaller Kentuckian version of Adam Dunn.

Fair enough you say. We could use Adam Dunn. And by this virtue, we could use Dan Uggla.

And here's a fun fact that should make you slam you fist down on the desk. Uggla hit 31 dongers last year. You know who hit 31 dongs on the Giants last year?

Give up?

Travis Ishikawa (9), Aaron Rowand (15), Edgar Renteria (5), and Randy Winn (2).

Let the vomit flow through you!

Once Florida's asking price comes down, I believe the Gyros will pull the trigger on a lesser trade. Grant likes this idea...

Much of it has to do with how desperate the Fish are to rid themselves of yet another quality player that it deems to pricey to keep around. It's estimated that Uggla will make about $7-8MM via arbitration. The Marlins will be stuck with whatever the arbitrator decides as they will not "non-tender" him (like Ryan Garko will be). The more the egghead arbitrator gives him, the more desperate the situation for this joke of a franchise in South Florida.

Another question is what, exactly, the Giants will have to give up for such a hitter. As they will not trade Bumgarner, the next position player on the list is Thomas Neal, now ranked 4th on the Giants top 10 prospect list preceded by the 3rd ranked Zack Wheeler. The truth is, you gotta give up something to get something. Sucks, but as we all know, 30 HR hitting infielders don't grow on trees... or in Fresno. Hopefully Sabean can throw together something less...

A quick thought on the "rich get richer" Curtis Granderson trade that went down this week.

We couldn't get in on this? Phil Coke, Ian Kennedy and Austin Jackson, huh? That's it? That's like us trading Roger Kieschnick, Dan Runzler, and Sergio Romo for Curtis Granderson... if that. Ian Kennedy won't turn into anything, Austin Jackson is a poor man's Cameron Maybin, and hit 4 dongs versus 123 strikeouts in AAA last year, and Phil Coke is a decent 8th inning reliever. In return you get a guy in his prime, signed reasonably, and he hit 30 bombs last year.

Dammit.

Non-Tender Deadline Time!

A bunch of quality players are going to be without contracts tomorrow, and we'll be able to sign them for free (and a contract)!

Name like Garrett Atkins, Rick Ankiel, Jack Cust, and Ryan Garko will be out there. Oh wait... we have Garko? I'd hardly noticed.

If you're not already annoyed, try this on for size... From MLBTR:

"Peter Gammons said that Jason Bay "does not want to play in San Francisco, pure and simple," in spite of the fact that the Giants would be willing to offer Bay the five-year contract that he is apparently seeking."

What a dickhead! Man that makes me mad!