Bad News: he's in the AL
Good News: It isn't our division.
Bad news: The Ms can now pocket the Fielder funds and buy more BMWs.
Good news: We're still a really good, really young team under club control, and might now find some funds in the couch cushions rather than having Fielder eat all our cookies.
Bad news: No Fielder :(
Good news: Yes Montero :D
In the end, since Fielder didn't want to come here and Detroit was willing to pay Scott's Ransom, I'm not upset at all with Ackley/Montero/Carp/Smoak as our MOTO. We have half-a-dozen prospects to try to fix 3B, a couple of SS blue-chippers and a Japanese import ready to take over for Ryan shortly, and several OF prospects to hold down the fort until one becomes Jayson Werth - or until we add Carlos Quentin/Melky Cabrera/whomever to replace Ichiro.
We're in good shape. Our meaningful free agents list goes:
2013: League (5 mil), Ichiro (18 mil)
2014: Vargas (5 mil+), Figgins (8 mil) Guti (7 mil)
2015: Felix (20 mil)
2016: (Jaso goes here, but is he significant?)
2017: Smoak, Wells
2018: Ackley, Montero, Carp
Our ENTIRE MOTO is ours through 2016 if we want em.
In the mean time we drop a TON of big contracts in the next 3 years (though we'll have plenty of money to re-sign Felix if he wants to stay and we want to pay). Our pitching rotation isn't timing out til the latter half of the decade, easily. We don't have any bad contracts past the 2013 season.
I wanted Fielder because we could have afforded him, and he's gonna be a crusher the next several years.
But I'm thrilled to have a middle of the order that might be amazingly special AND will be ours for the next handful of years.
I wish we had a couple of GOOD vet bats to show the kids the way. I think it would have helped Smoak a lot, for one. "I can't play because I'm Ill" Guti and "I don't talk to anyone" Ichiro don't count. Neither did "I am a fat tub of useless goo" Cust or "I am a bi-polar angry bird" Bradley.
Fielder is a professional ballplayer with experience and talent, and I wanted him to share both with the guys on this team. Losing that is in the "Bad" column for me. I was looking at Cuddyer for the same clubhouse reasons even if he was a bad park fit.
So we'll need to make that up. Can someone persuade Texas not to extend Hamilton so he can come give that to our guys next year? Pat Burrell helped a young SF squad immensely in the locker room. I guess it'll be Wedge's show this coming year, all the way.
Hopefully that falls into the "Good" column.
~G
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