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Figgins comes off the books after 2013 - there is no universe in which we allow his option to vest. Vargas has 2013 left as an arb candidate before free agency (price tag: 8 mil) and League is a free agent after this season.
I see us as more likely to extend League than Vargas. Yes, we have Capps and Pryor and whatnot coming up through the minors, but if Wedge's bugaboo is pen usage then we'd better have a reliable pen, especially to protect the leads of the young pitchers about to arrive. Furbush + Capps + Pryor + Wilhelmsen + League is one lefty short of looking REALLY nasty.
With Seager looking all kinds of good at 3rd, Ackley secured at 2nd, Carp and Catricala and Peguero (among others) hoping for LF, Ichiro likely to be re-signed in RF, and Wells/Saunders backing up our currently untradable and unplayable Guti in center (here through 2013) ....where does Chone get all these at-bats and comfort that he needs? Maybe he won't fold like a lawn chair as the roster pressure ratchets up, but my opinion of his mental fortitude remains low. We can't trade him either, really, but I'm expecting him to crash and burn for the last time this summer. I'm not in a hurry to be rid of him, I think he'll rid us of himself shortly and am planning accordingly.
And Vargas...well Vargas is doing everything we could ask him to do. I'm just looking at 7 starters for 4 spots behind Felix (Paxton, Hultzen, Walker, Erasmo, Noesi, Carraway, Beavan) and wondering if his 8-10 mil a year going forward could be used for something else.
Ichiro isn't gonna be a #3 hitter for a pennant-winning offense in 2014. And looking at our O I still feel like Danny Ocean. "You think we need one more. You think we need eleven."
I do think we need one more hitter. Maybe that's Carp, or Catricala. Maybe it's Franklin when he gets here. But I prefer not to put all my eggs in that untested-player basket. Felix is here through 2014. After that is anybody's guess. We have enough pieces to work a trade for a vet, and enough salary room to sign a good (or even great) free agent - assuming we lose either Vargas or League.
At this point, I'd choose to lose Vargas, even though I like him a lot. If we decided to trade one of the Big Three for a bat, that evaluation could always change.
What does Paxton + Franklin + a couple pieces fetch on the open market? More than Vargas would, for sure.
~G