Heyman's Latest: Sabathia, Dunn, Huff, Mora

The Giants should sign CC.. and trade Sanchez and some younger pitchers for Jimmy Rollins or get JJ Hardy for less... 2009 NL West champs baby!

How is no one interested in Huff. He's having a crazy good year. I hope the Yanks trade for him in the winter. Hes a great player. Now the Giants have great staring pitching anyway. Now if they take that money for C.C and get some hitters, than they are in buisness in 2009. They're goin to have an awsome team in the future anyway, I know they got pitching but does anybody know if they got some power hitters in the minors.

If LA and SF are willing to be serious contenders in the CC Sweepstakes, I'd imagine a sleeper would have to be the Diamondbacks...Imagine a front 3 of Webb, Sabathia, and Haren..that trio would be almost impossible to beat in a playoff series.

trading cain is plain dumb. the guy is a stud.. people forget he's younger than lincecum.. plus hes locked up cheap.. the guy is a keeper.. The Giants proabably wont get CC, but they should still trade for a SS and play Sandoval at 3rd. Rollins or Hardy would be ideal.

I find it interesting that the Yankees are continuously referred to as the frontrunners for Sabathia. After all, it seems like the rationale behind this observation is predicated entirely upon the Yankees' financial clout.

Sabathia and those closest to him have repeatedly made reference to a disinclination on the part of the pitcher toward playing on the East Coast in general and New York in particular. Furthermore, it's safe to assume that there will be comparable offers coming from every contender not falling under the 'small market' categorization; after all, it isn't every day that an elite and durable pitcher under the age of 30 hits the market. If, in fact, Sabathia is willing to weigh considerations other than money alone- as most reports suggest- I'm not sure how the Yankees can be seen as the leading contender to acquire his services.

Frankly, I agree with Blake; that Manny-mania aside, the Dodgers will make a heavy push for CC over the off-season. It may not be quite what the Yanks are offering but based on his preference to play out west (he's building a home near Anaheim), he'll sacrifice a few measly million. It's not he'll be hurting for money, regardless of his decision. Minimum, he'll be pulling in over $100 million over the duration of the contract, whether it's in New York or LA (or elsewhere). Based on the peripheral stories and statements we've been hearing then, wouldn't it seem logical that Sabathia choose to go where he feels most comfortable?!

There's little doubt New York will be in the mix, and they may very well wind up the last team standing, but I'd hold off on declaring a victor- or even a front-runner- just yet.

Is it me or has Mat Gamel not homered much lately? His numbers are still sick but he is at 16 homeruns and I thought I remembered him being around 14 two months ago. Wonder if Laporta being moved has effected his ability to get pitches to drive. Any word on his defense this year as well? I know he has been a butcher at third, wasn't sure if he is improving

...As for Huff (and to a lesser extent, Mora), I don't entirely understand the logic that they could be more easily moved over the winter. Oh, I get that there could be more teams involved, as everyone becomes a contender for '09 once '08 has concluded. Still, I can't imagine an impact bat like Huff's would have more VALUE in the off-season as opposed to the middle of a playoff race. After all, wouldn't a potential post-season candidate be more willing to part with a top prospect in August, when the number of available options are at a minimum and the stakes are at a season-high? Wouldn't a player of Huff's caliber seem more desirable when his contributions might have make-or-break consequences?

Let's face it...as good as Huff has been and even if we assume he continues at the same pace in '09, he lacks the cache' of similarly productive players. Furthermore, his lack of a true defensive position or presence hurts the way a club perceives his value when piecing together their roster. While, in August/September, you hear 'impact bat,' and dream of Huff's fantastic slugging percentage and OPS boosting a good offense into the realm of greatness...and perhaps a World Series title, come January/February you see a DH whose body of work coming into 2008 left much to be desired. In short, clubs make more measured moves over the winter. August is the time for dramatic, throw-out-all-the-stops, go-for-broke moves that perhaps sacrifice a little bit of the future for the sake of the opportunity that exists HERE and NOW. And, on the flip-side, it's the time for lesser clubs like the O's to take advantage of that kind of impulsiveness; sacrificing the better parts of the otherwise mediocre (or worse) here and now for a chance at a brighter future.

If McPhail and the Orioles wait until the winter, hoping more teams means better offers, I fear that they'll be sorely disappointed...and that the long suffering fans in Baltimore will be forced to once again endure empty promises of a return to former glories from a front office that doesn't know the way.

"Heyman believes a claim on Paul Byrd would've made sense for the Yanks".

Byrd has a 5.40 era in Boston and has given up 16 hits and 4 homers in 13 innings. The Yankees have Ponson and Rasner that can do that....and not for the prorated 7.5 mill Byrd is earning.

angryseals ... I get that. Totally. A fair and reasonable approach.

I just wonder what good it will do them in a few years though. The real value of Cain and Lincecum is that they are good pitchers AND cheap. In a few years that won't be the case. By then they will still most likely be good but expensive. Good pitching can always be acquired through FA at a price.

Seems like they could move both now for some top tier talent that is still a few years away. A team that is on a tight budget, has loads of minor league talent, and is close to competing would drool at the possibility of signing either guy.

My guess is that the Giants will continue to rebuild for next few years. Both Lincecum and Cain will remain solid. The payroll will remain about the same (somewhere between $75-90m). By 2011 Cain will be in the last year of his contract and looking at making a killing in FA. Lincecum will be raking in big bucks through arb. The youngsters in the system are now starting to get acclimated to big league life. The Giants will then face a major decision about what to do with either pitcher. If they walk then the Giants will need to rebuild their rotation again. If they sign them the Giants will have a massive payroll (Zito is on the books until 2014).

No.. but its a step in that direction.. I mean.. dont get me wrong the Giants sucked this year.. but we came out with a good starting LFer (lewis), a CLOSER, 2 stud SPs, and Sanchez a good 3rd starter. plus a couple of other potentially good position players with more waiting in the wings. Hardy would be a great pick up and if we got CC and dont see why people wouldn't consider us contenders.

haha.. no the kids name is Madison Bumgarner or something but look at his stats and Tim Aldersons.. these guys are putting up similar numbers to what Lincecum did in his short minor league stint..

Dude.. I'm not saying were going to contend next year - and to be honest with you, I don't really care, but we're going to be better. We've rebuilt our farm system and came out of this season with some real ball players.

But cmon.. IF we actually land CC, keep Cain, and trade for Hardy?? don't you think we'd be a team to watch out for?

Hey.. what do you guys think it'll take for the Giants to get Rollins from Philly?

You've misquoted Heyman, Tim, on Mora & Huff. He didn't say no one was interested. He said there "appears to be no trade action on them." This is very, very different.

By the way those prospects you guys mentioned from Texas and Mil. have some pretty bad minor league numbers.

Let's play best case scenario. When will Alderson and Bumgarner realistically make an appearance in the bigs? How many years until they reach their potential? 3 years - maybe more?

By then you no longer have a cheap combo in Lincecum and Cain. That's my point. Why not move them now for talent that will be ready in the next few years. Then all your young talent will be cheap, controllable, and the Giants will have plenty of room to fill in any gaps via FA.

not to mention the phils have no intentions of moving rollins anytime soon...

WHY would CC want go to SF..thought he wanted to win! CC will go to NYY and Sheets to the cubs! haha

SIGN CC! I didn't think we could because the Yankees will throw a ton of cash at him but the Yankees are stupid and will overpay Sheets or Burnett or someone else so if we could just do something like 18 mil for 6 years, that would be great. It's a lot of money but the Giants are not a small market team and Lincecum, Cain and young position players like Fred Lewis, Pablo Sandoval, Travis Ishikawa, Eugenio Velez and Nate Schierholtz are all signed for cheap right now. We have the money and instead of getting another Zito/Rowand, how about actually getting the best FA on the market (which we haven't done since Bonds in 1992). When we missed out on Vlad, we showed our tendency to always get a second tier FA and it hasn't worked so far so let's try a different approach.

To free up more money and a spot in the rotation, package Sanchez and Randy Winn for prospects and cash. Winn is due 8 million so that frees up a lot. Also, Durham's contract will be off the books, Vizquel will be gone (though I'd love him back in the organization once he retires as a coach and someday manager) and Aurilia is gone too.

With CC, even with a power-starved lineup, the Giants will definitely contend. They are a speedy team and the young guys don't have much pop yet but can hit for average (see Sandoval, Burriss, etc.). With a rotation of Lincecum, Sabathia, Cain, Zito, (Correia, Lowry, Bumgarner or Alderson will all work), this is a contending team in a weak NL West.