Mailbag!

I've been getting a TON of imaginary emails lately from a lot of you I Bleed Orange readers who I just made up, and 100% of you are demanding the same thing: to make some sense of the Giants moves (and non-moves) so far in the off-season. The real off-season, I mean. The one that is actually happening; not the imaginary one.

Thanks to everyone for your emails that didn't actually exist.

The Giants signed Aubrey Huff, which I like, but wasn't it for a bit too much (2 years/$22 mil)? I agree with ESPN's Keith Law that this is contract the biggest mistake a GM can make. I mean, what did this guy do besides put up the best offensive numbers for the World Series Champions?

-Walter,
Portland, OR

Dear Walter,

Yes, it would have been nice for the Giants to have locked down Huff for something more in the 2/18, but World Series. Critics may call this a mistake if they are so inclined. It's easy to come to that conclusion when you look at Huff's career arc, which has been consistently inconsistent. But this arc's ups and downs were forged in Baltimore and Tampa Bay (before they were good). Let's see how Huff responds to finally being a champion before we assume he's due for a downturn.


Can I boo Juan Uribe now? It will feel really good, plus casual fans already thought I was booing anyway.

- Riley
Perham, MN

Dear Riley,

I must admit I'm torn on this one. The difficulty is, how do we show him we appreciate what he's done yet at the same time voice our disapproval for his becoming a dirty Dodger? At the same time, are any of us really surprised that players don't care about the rivalries as much as the fans, and follow the money around? I'm probably going to have a hard time finding the energy to boo him, directly. I will boo the Dodger brand as I normally do and whatever boos trickle their way down to Juan, so be it.


I am hopping mad about the Miguel Tejada signing! Not only is he really old, but hits into double plays, and he's really old! $6.5 million? 1 year? We could have had 1/20 of Jayson Werth for that!

-Marty
Joplin, MO

Dear Marty,

Look, if we learned anything from last year, it's that players can be past their prime and still contribute. I'm not saying that the Giants are going to strike gold like they did last year with Huff and Burrell, but let's keep the signing in perspective: An aging double play machine is what we had at shortstop last year. This one is a lot better at getting on base, one of the most durable guys in baseball, and comes at the third of the cost. And it's only one year. And World Series. Quit complaining.


Pablo Sandoval is fat.

-Salvador
Siloam Springs, AK

Dear Salvador,

The Giants agree with your eloquent assessment that this is Panda's key issue. They've committed a lot of resources and press time to his diet and conditioning. Lose weight, and everything else will be cream cheese. I am in agreement too; I even wrote an entire blog entry about it last month. I'd like to add one more piece of evidence to this theory, and that is that weight is the key issue for anyone, including you, Salvador.

Think about it: You feel a little off, things aren't going right at work, school or personal life, you start to get a little lazy, watching too much TV, eating poorly, etc. What's the first thing you do to get back on track? Stop eating the junk food and start moving around a little more. And it usually works. Before you know it you're a star.

I'm betting the same thing can happen for Pablo.