Day One of Meetings Goes Quietly

With the flurry of action on the hot-stove market we've seen over the last week, I'm not too surprised that the Winter Meetings got off to a quiet start Monday in Florida.

I really didn't expect anything too earth shattering to take place just days after the Adrian Gonzalez trade to Boston, and hours after Jayson Werth was given "Barry Zito Money" to play in Washington over the next 7 years, especially on the Giants front. As I said in the previous post here, the Giants could enter the 2011 season tomorrow and be in good shape, so a move on their part is not at all imminent. That said, Brian Sabean gave warning to the press before hand that the Giants "would not be stagnant" during these meetings, and apparently he still is searching for help outside of the organization. Again though, after Burrell and Huff re-signed, and with Tejada now on board to play shortstop, the Giants are running out of roster space. The area I think Sabean is looking into now is depth at shortstop for this team. Outside of the 36 year-old Tejada, and Mike Fontenot, who's been a career-long 2nd basemen, the Giants don't have any other options at shortstop. Right now, Fontenot is penciled in to be the main back-up, but I don't think the Giants are content on that situation and will be looking to upgrade. Fontenot is most comfortable as a 2nd/3rd basemen, a role Mark DeRosa will fill in 2011, so if the Giants can find a better defensive option in the infield, they should take it.

Speaking of DeRosa, he could be in for some major playing time at third base in 2011 too if Pablo Sandoval cannot get back on track. I'm not too worried about Pablo right now, as he appears determined to get back to his pre-2010 form, and I think he's ready to take his conditioning very seriously as Bochy explained during his interview at the meetings on Monday. I don't think Giants fans should expect a return to the 2008/'09 version of "The Panda" in '11, but if he can get his confidence back, he should be a steady .300 hitter with power in run production. Maybe not 25 HR/92 RBI like in 2009, but at least 20/85 consistently. However, the Giants can't depend on that, and if he enters 2011 the same way he exited 2010, then they will need DeRosa, or Tejada, over at third. So, the Giants do have a few options who could play 3rd base, but again, they don't have many guys who can play up the middle. If Sabean does add to the positional roster during the next few days, something tells me it will be to acquire a middle infielder.

Werth/Berkman/Burrell Comparison: After seeing the contracts that Lance Berkman (1 yr/$8M from Stl.) and now Jayson Werth (7/$126M from Wash.), how good does the Pat Burrell, $1M deal for 2011 looking now!? Burrell has a better year than Berkman in 2010, yet Lance will be bringing in 8-times the money Burrell will. I'd say Burrell is closer to Werth's value than Berkman's value to a team, and look at the money that Werth just got from Washington! I think Pat Burrell at 1 year and $1 Million guaranteed has to be considered as one of the "steals of the offseason" so far.