Yes, the season is over, and I'm still posting about baseball..

[gridlore]

Deal with it.

The Giants have signed veteran shortstop Omar Vizquel to a three-year deal.

OK, nine Gold Gloves. Excellent. He should really shore up our defense. One year removed from two surgeries on his right knee, the switch hitter batted .291 in 148 games for the Indians. He also stole 19 bases, which would have led the Giants by nine in 2004, and committed one error over his last 81 games. He will carry a 55-game errorless streak into Opening Day.

In fact, Vizquel's .983 fielding percentage is the best in major-league history among shortstops who have played more than 1,000 games at the position. That stat can be misleading because of favorable hometown scoring, but those who have watched Vizquel play over 16 big-league seasons with the Mariners and Indians know he has lived up to that number.

ESPN on Vizquel

The question is where do we put him? Lead-off batter? With that kind of speed, we don't want him batting behind the notoriously pokey JT Snow. And we still need a strong bat to protect Bonds. I'd love to see the Giants acquire J.D. Drew. That would solve our problem in right field and put a good bat in the five slot (.305/31HR/93RBI)

Looking at the moves we're making, I think the Giants are going for "win it all now before Bonds retires" mode. There are strengths and weknesses to this approach. The upside is a parade down Market St next October. The downside is a championship team that is old and fading away quickly.

Comments

[docwebster.livejournal.com]

Well, I think since the team is aging, they need to roll the dice while they still have a realistic shot at doing so. May as well do it now as later, and especially since the longer they go the wonkier the odds get.