Giants Need Pablo Slim and Uribe Back

This Giants team achieved greatness in 2010, but if you told me the Giants would have won the World Series with their team MVP from 2009 riding the pine, I would have called you crazy.

The Giants offense managed to have success in the playoffs despite getting much of anything out of the guy they centered their offense around coming into the season. As Sandoval gained weight over the season, his batting average dropped, and it got to the point that he was benched in favor of Mike Fontenot for a while there to start the playoffs. Granted, his benching led to the eventual heavy playing load on Edgar Renteria, and we all know how well that turned out, so luckily it turned out for the Giants. Still, this team needs Sandoval to be "The Panda" again in 2011, as they face an unsure future on the left-side of their infield. I'm not sure the .330, 25, 95 Sandoval is the guy Giants fans should expect, but I'd say somewhere split between his '09 and '10 numbers would be sufficient (.290, 20, 85, .800+ OPS). Again though, the issue with Pablo isn't really his bat right now. Tony Gwynn was a hefty guy and he could rake, but Sandoval is being groomed to be a 3rd basemen, one of the quickest reflex positions in baseball, and they need him mobile. That becomes the case even more so if they decide to bring back Juan Uribe to play short in 2011, as Uribe's a good defensive player, but the one area in which he lacks is his range.

Speaking of Uribe, one of the Giants postseason hero's is apparently gaining some interest around the league as the Cardinals, among others, are inquiring about his services. The Giants should really focus on him right away cause there aren't may other shortstops out there. I'd give Uribe 2 years, as he's flexible enough to move around and will always have value, but other teams are going to be throwing big dollars at him to play short or second, and it could complicate things. A shortstop with steady hands, a good arm, 25 hr-a-year power and a knack for the clutch hit is a nice commodity. With the saturated first base marked, and the paper thin middle infield market, Uribe is going to be a much tougher sign than Aubrey Huff if the Giants are intent on bring both back. And, if the Giants aren't able to bring back Uribe to play short, things get pretty iffy after that. The next shortstop on the FA list is Cesar Izturis. Since Brandon Crawford isn't ready, the job would then probably fall to Emmanuel Burris barring any trades. For these reasons, among others, Uribe has all of the sudden become key for the Giants to re-sign. And with the ball fully in his court, it's time to see if team loyalty really does still exist.

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