Wow. So we signed Mike Matheny today for 3 years for either $9M or $10.5M and an option for a fourth year. Picked up Vizquel for too long at too much. Signed Benitez for too much, bidding against the Japanese Giants... This team is getting older exponentially. I'm not sorry we missed out on Finley, and now we have missed out on Podsednik too. Meanwhile the other teams in the division are making major signings of impact players and actually improving themselves... Well maybe not LA with PornStache Kent lowering the standards of their infield.

What happened to building a real team around Barry that can win now? I'm starting to think that 05 is his last season, not 06. I'm just not thinking the current lineup puts any fear into anyone. I say find a team who needs a Proven Starter™ and get an outfielder for Woody. Or Alfonzo could masquerade as a Solid Third Baseman™ and have some trade value, and we really should get some value out of Slappy Pierzynski before the door hits him where the good lord split him...

Feliz is cheap enough and competent enough at third. Vizquel and Durham will be solid up the middle as long as they don't break all season. And as much as I would have liked to see a masher take over at first, they are all pretty much gone, including the inimitable Tiny Minor. Here's to hoping JT's got another season of gas in his tank, and makes us naysayers look stupid for another year... We have enough youngsters to fill the rotation after Schmidt, Tomko, Williams and Lowry that the Giants could afford to experiment for a while. Or they could trade for someone young with potential.

So where does that leave the outfield? Barry, Grissom, Tucker and Mohr. The Giants don't seem to be too high on any of their OF prospects, so this is what needs the most work. Tucker is the most expendable with the most trade value. I think Mohr as OF #4, Grissom in right and PTBNL in CF is the best we can hope for.

So where do we get the PTBNL? There were rumblings about interest in Dave Roberts, who I always hated to see come to bat when he played in LA. He's fast and reasonably cheap and can get on base. But Sabean rightly won't give up Lowry or Cain, and other teams don't seem at all interested in any combination of Reuter, Pierzynski, Alfonso, or Tucker.

So that leaves the money that was left over when the Giants failed to land Finley... it didn't go to Matheny- he is cheaper than DP would have been. There are still some big names out there- Ordonez, Drew, and some dude named Carlos. The Mets are looking to dump Floyd, the Red Sox are looking to dump Ramirez, the Cubs are looking to dump Sosa.

WTF? The window is closing. It's time to step up and spend some money on someone who can hit the bejesus out of the ball and not drop it when he catches it. Would be nice if he was under 30, too, but hell, I don't want to be unreasonable.

I'm not a baseball GM, nor do I play one on TV, but ferchrissakes, if you're trying to put together a winning team when you're up against strong competition, and your back is against the wall with only one or two years of HomeRun Jesus™ left, trade big to get big, or SPEND SOME FUCKING CASH ALREADY! Trust me, I am no economics professor, but it stands to reason that the team might just be a little more profitable AFTER winning a World Series.