In desperate need of some offense, the San Francisco Giants added a bat last night.
According to SI.com’s Jon Heyman via Twitter , the Giants have signed Mark DeRosa to a two-year, $12 million contract. DeRosa is expected to play third base for the Giants in 2010.
I’ll get to the Giants' part of this in a second, but for DeRosa and his camp, this has to be considered a loss. I know it’s hard to fathom someone losing when they just made $12 million, but it is.
At the beginning of the offseason, DeRosa and his camp were reportedly asking for a three-year deal and $18-19 million. To get one year and $6 million less is something I don’t think DeRosa was hoping for.
But I think it was a smart move by his camp to get a deal done now. The longer he held out, the more likely he would be forced to accept a one-year deal—a road Adam LaRoche seems destined to travel.
For the Giants, this is a good deal, but it doesn’t solve all of their problems.
DeRosa can play third, second, first, left, or right. He is one of the most versatile players in the game. As I mentioned earlier, for the Giants he will most likely play third in 2010.
This move will allow current third baseman Pablo Sandoval to move to first, where he is much better suited. I expect DeRosa’s power numbers to decline a little playing in AT&T Park, but the Sandoval/DeRosa combination at first and third is a definite upgrade over the Sandoval/Travis Ishikawa/Ryan Garko combination of last year.
The Giants offense right now reminds me of a college basketball team after their one superstar player leaves for the NBA and all that is left is the supporting cast. Sure, the supporting cast can compete, but they are not the powerhouse team they were the year before.
The Giants are like Oklahoma without Blake Griffin.
The Giants are missing that one dynamic hitter in the middle of the lineup that makes all the role players around him better. DeRosa, Freddy Sanchez, Aaron Rowand, etc...are good players, but they are role players.
They shouldn’t be the focal point of the offense, but in the Giants offense they are.
In order for the Giants to take the next step—not only in the NL West, but in the National League as well—they need to find their Blake Griffin, or really their Barry Bonds.
One last thing as I think out loud here: If you are the Philadelphia Phillies, don’t you have a little pie in your face this morning?
They rushed to sign a second baseman to play third for three years and $18 million. If they would have just waited two months, they could have had DeRosa for one year and $6 million less.
I personally would rather have DeRosa play third for my team than Placido Polanco.
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