Bay City Ball

Or something…

The unbelievable has happened, Pedro Feliz will not be a Giant in 2008. The Phillies, who actually had an enormous hole at third base, lured away Pedro Feliz for a 2 year $8.5M contract that can run up to 3-years and $15M depending on incentives. I feel like I’ve written an enormous amount about Feliz on this site over the years but he’s always been a hot-button-topic with Giants fans.

As terrible as Feliz is, he’s going to most likely be an upgrade for the Phillies. Any team that has to run out a 3B amalgamation of Wes Helms, Greg Dobbs, and Abraham Nunez to play the position is in trouble and there’s not many places to go but up. Feliz will probably smack some homers and play some great defense for the Phillies but with his age, history, and the state of the Giants, there’s no real reason for him to be on a Giants team in transition.

And now, for a stupid quote from the Phillies.com article on the signing. The added emphasis is mine.

“We got better,” Manuel said. “He’s a good defensive player. He’s got power. He’ll hit probably sixth, seventh, somewhere in there. He’ll continue to hit 20 homers. I think putting him down in our lineup will help him. He was called on to hit in the middle of the lineup in San Francisco. A couple years ago, he might’ve been pressing to do too much because they had Barry Bonds there.“

What does that even mean? Does Barry Bonds have some voodoo-like powers that compelled Pedro Feliz to swing at sliders in the dirt for 7-years straight? Damn you Barry Bonds.

The Giants will probably either sign a FA with injury or performance questions — Ensberg or McPherson — or get stupid and trade for Joe Crede. Please, Giants, don’t trade away Feliz and then replace him with another Feliz.

Is it true? Could it be true? Have the Giants finally backed away from Pedro Feliz?

Words from Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle:

Pedro Feliz apparently is gone, with Sabean saying, “We made a two-year offer, which he rejected. We’ve pretty much moved on from there.” There are other third baseman coming off injuries who might be available via trade - most notably Joe Crede and the already-dealt Scott Rolen - and Sabean acknowledged he is monitoring players in that category.

After offering Feliz a 2-year deal you can’t really say that the Giants totally backed away from Feliz, but it’s good news that Sabean is showing a modicum of restraint and not giving into the 3-year demands that Feliz apparently wants. Feliz is what he is, great with the leather, not-so-great with the bat. Toss in the fact that Feliz will be 33 next year and he’s a pretty big risk, even at two years. I think that a team with really weak 3B production last year might still take a shot at Feliz, maybe someone like the Phillies, but I’d really be surprised if he gets the 3-years he’s looking for.

The good news for the G’s is that they offered Feliz arbitration, he’s a type-B player, and will get a supplemental draft pick from whichever team he signs with — if he doesn’t end up playing in Japan or something. Despite what Schulman is saying, I don’t think the Blue Jays will be trading Scott Rolen, nor would I really want him. The same goes for Crede, even though the White Sox are definitely making him available, I do no want him. Actually trading talent for Crede is mind-boggling considering that Feliz and Crede are basically the same player. Crede’s agent is Scott Boras, too, who loves to test the market. Crede would be nothing but a potential 1-year rental with a lot of health concerns. I really, really, hope that Sabean doesn’t trade for him.

I’ve been riding shotgun on the Morgan Ensberg bandwagon for 2-years now and I won’t get off just yet. He’d come cheap and without the cost of prospects. He might even put up league average numbers for the Giants. An article in the San Jose Mercury News today briefly mentions that the Giants might be checking out Ensberg.

Club officials are exploring other possibilities for the corners, including free agent Morgan Ensberg. Giants scouts also plan to monitor Chicago White Sox third baseman Joe Crede this spring to see if his back is healthy. If so, club sources said there is a good chance the Giants could acquire him for a pitcher.

If the Giants trade for Crede, I’ve got the feeling that they will move Lowry in a Crede deal. I’m not big on Lowry by any stretch but to trade him for a 1-year of Joe Crede — who’s essentially the exact same player that Feliz is — seems like a spinning-the-wheels-in-sand type of move.

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While my Ensberg dreams still run strong, you can cross Chris Shelton off the list as a possible first base candidate for the Giants. He cleared waivers today for Texas and was sent to their AAA affiliate. Shelton would most likely out-hit Ben Broussard but it looks like initially the Rangers will carry him as a bench bat, if he even makes the team.

Finally, ex-Giant David Aardsma was DFA’d by the Chicago White Sox. Aardsma, who is #1 all-time alphabetically in baseball, pitched great for the White Sox in ‘07 … in April. He started the year looking un-hittable, posting an ERA of 1.72 in 15.2 innings with 23 strike-outs. In May, June, and July Aardsma never had an ERA under 9.00 and was optioned to AAA where he stayed for the rest of the year. According to his Wikipedia page, he’s also good friends with Kirsten Dunst? He’d be a interesting reclamation project because of his arm but I think he’ll get picked before the Giants get a shot at him.