December 22, 2005
Finley for Alfonzo
The Angels and Giants agreed to a deal last night, sending Steve Finley north and Edgardo Alfonzo south.
The Giants continue their love affair with aging outfielders:
In joining Bonds -- for whom he'll likely fill in quite a bit -- Finley exacerbates the Giants' trend of aged outfielders. Last year's Opening Day trio of Bonds (40), Marquis Grissom (38) and Moises Alou (38), the AARP outfield, will seem almost young next season when Finley is on the field. He turns 41 in March, and Bonds is now 41 and Alou 39. Randy Winn is the kid of the group, at 31. (This is nothing new. In 2001, the Giants had an outfield that at times included Bonds, then 36; Shawon Dunston, 38; and Eric Davis, 39.)
"I still don't view myself as a 40-year-old," Finley said. "I see my age next to my name, but I don't feel like that. It's a testament to all of us (Bonds, Alou and Finley) that we're still able to play at that level.''
Are the Giants incapable of developing a young outfielder? Do they ever draft any? There's got to be a 22-year-old in their system who can play as well as Finley for 1/20th of the price.
I also take it this mean the Angels won't be trading Figgins to the Red Sox for Manny Ramirez.
But the Giants needed a fourth outfielder to spell aging Barry Bonds and Moises Alou, and the Angels needed some insurance in case young third baseman Dallas McPherson doesn't fully recover from hip surgery and/or struggles at the plate.
The Giants had no need for Alfonzo, having declared Pedro Feliz their third baseman, and the Angels had no need for Finley, having all but handed his job this winter to Chone Figgins or Darin Erstad, though Stoneman said Wednesday's trade "makes it more likely that Figgins will play more center field than he has in the past."
It's a good trade for LAnaheim. And Finley's in the right role as defensive replacement, but that's still a lot of money for a part-time player.
Posted by David Pinto at
08:35 AM
|
Trades
|
TrackBack (0)
Winn is going to get old fast covering the ground between 40-year-old outfielders. Good luck Randy.
Well, both players were veterans coming off of bad years, both were --- and still are--- slated to be only part-time players next year, and both were making $7 million in 2006. So essentially it was a matter of the Giants needing a veteran 4th outfielder more and the Angels needing a veteran backup 3rd baseman.
Sometimes it sure looks like the Dodgers got the better end of the deal when they got Ned Colletti and the Giants still have Brian Sabean. Boy, on paper, the Dodgers (evil!) have had a pretty nice offseason while the Giants have settled on a few aging players.
I hope for the Angels case Dallas McPhearson recovers and is able to be an everday player for the team. I watched him a number of times in AAA (Salt Lake Buzz/Stingers/Bees) and he was a freakin' stud.
I don't know - Colleti seems to share Sabean's love of veteranness, judging from most of his deals so far (Furcal notwithstanding).
I think Sabean was simply desperate to unload Fonzie's carcass, and the only way he could get anything for it was to accept another declining, high-priced veteran in return. The Giants can accept an old 4th outfielder, whereas they really needed someone who can at least make a passable attempt at playing third. Pedro Feliz is no star, but he hit 50 - 100 OPS pts higher than Fonzie for most of the season, plus his defense is usually not mind-bendingly horrible.
this trade helps both teams. especially the angels they can package one or two of their 3rd basemen for manny ramirez if they choose.
giants get another old vet, that can spell bonds, alou, and randy winn.
randy winn was the 2nd half player of the year in the nl. he almost brought that group of aarp players back to win the west.
why would the angels deal figgins he is their best player.