It’s the small moves that make a season and a team.
I admit, when the Giants picked up Ryan Vogelsong, I thought it was to sell tickets in Fresno. I was wrong.
When the Giants found Pat Burrell on the scrap heap, I expected it to be a non-factor in anything. Nope.
Cody Ross? It seemed like sacrificing a roster spot to stop a rival. Well, not just.
Marco Scutaro? A fine veteran bench player. Yea, well, much more than that.
It’s amazing how many of these guys the Giants have picked up and found a way to get good, and even great, things out of. I admit, I thought Huff still had something left (and got some credibility with people for seeing that). But I was in the minority. Almost every other move has been the kind of thing that surprised me. From the big busts like Burrell and Vogelsong, to the never-weres like Andres Torres, Gregor Blanco and Joaquin Arias. They all have had such big contributions…
So, why not Jason Bay?
Bay has a Burrell feel about him, except for the lack of ridiculous amounts of groupies. He was never really an elite hitter, but he was a guy who’d hit above-average, and had the potential to lay out 20+ doubles and 20+ home runs. But with the Mets, he couldn’t do both in the same season even once.
Now, he’s cheap. And on the market. And the Giants need a left fielder.
Could the Giants coax one last year of a talent outburst out of him?
I have to imagine that Bay, having seen what the Giants have done with scrap heaps like him, is having major internal debates about this.
30-HR Bay: There’s power for a right-handed batter pulling the ball, and doubles if I go the other way.
.165-BA Bay: And we haven’t hit a home run there since 2006.
30-HR Bay: The Giants have gotten guys who have struggled for years to win again!
.165-BA Bay: Yea, for just one year, then they’re off towards retirement. They’re like talent-vampires.
30-HR Bay: But they won a world championship, without a closer, their star pitcher sucking, and a career minor-leaguer in left field during the playoffs! Imagine what they could do with me, even not at my best!
.165-HR Bay: That career minor leaguer still outhit us last year.
30-HR Bay: But the name! The name is perfect!
.165-HR Bay: It’d be perfect in Tampa as well, and a hell of a lot warmer.
That last note is of no small consequence. I can’t find the stories saying it, but I seem to remember Jason Bay saying he didn’t like the cold weather here. But, hell, things change.
I don’t know. There are some pretty good outfielders on the market, but at high costs. I suppose the Giants couldn’t do worse than a low-cost option to really improve the offense. But on the other hand, he’s Jason Bay. He was the Mets’ version of Barry Zito.
…
Well, now that’d really set him up for a playoff redemption.
It’s the small things, though. Which means, if it merits a comic strip being written about just the possibility happening, it’s not going to be a small thing, I guess.
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