Things are good in Giants land, these days. We won the World Series. Our team is almost entirely intact for its title defense. Fourteen teams have won a world series more recently than the Dodgers. Powerful East Coast juggernauts are desperately trying to keep up. And also we won the World Series.
By the way, you shouldn't click on that hyperlink above on the word "almost." What's that? Too late? I'm really, really sorry. I don't know what I was thinking. Did you throw up on your keyboard? Let me clean that up for you. I'm really sorry. Do you have, like, a wet rag? I'm so, so sorry. What did you eat for lunch, by the way?
So yes, there are some things we could genuinely fear. The Phillies, sure. Yawn. The Pad...oh, never mind. Freak injuries to our star players. A league-wide ban on players named "Buster." A realignment that sends the Giants and Phillies to the AL East and the Orioles and Blue Jays to the National League. Jason Giambi.
But after watching the news the past few days, I have a greater fear. The 2014 Mariners. Allow me to explain.
Tim Lincecum is here through 2013 assuming we want him to be. Let's take a vote. All in favor? Ok, great. But then he's a free-agent and, much like Cliff Lee, will be looking to sign a long-term deal that will take him through the remainder of his prime. Of course early on we all assumed this would mean the Giants would be competing with the Yankees or Red Sox. But after watching Timmy in action, I don't feel that will be the case.
Timmy is, let's just say, a laid back guy. Can you really see him as a Yankee? I think he likes San Francisco. But that's not where he just bought a house.
That would be Seattle.
And he just attended an NFL game and hoisted a flag during a pre-game ceremony. But not for the Niners.
Again. Seattle.
In 2014, the Mariners will have exactly one player still under contract from the current team, and that's Felix Hernandez. Think they won't make Timmy a big offer? Think they aren't clearing payroll space just for him? Think they aren't going to offer to put a Timmy wig on the Space Needle?
I suddenly really, really dislike the Mariners.
Think about the supposed best-case scenario here. The Giants win the next three championships and Timmy, bored, decides to bolt for Seattle to try to bring his hometown its first ever title.
Or the worst-case scenario. The Giants fail to return to glory over the next three seasons and Timmy, disgruntled, heads for greener pastures. Never mind that they are only greener because it rains so much. Still, technically, greener.
What Giants fans have to hope for is that the Mariners sign a bunch of really bad players to really big contracts over the next few years. Maybe Kosuke Fukudome to an 8 year, $93 million deal. Or that the Mariners win one title between now and 2014. Or that Seattle falls into the ocean, but not during the off-season because then Timmy would fall into the ocean with it. Can't have that.
I have succeeded in convincing myself that Timmy to Seattle is now inevitable.
Oh well.
At least we could exercise the club option on Zito that year. He'll be, what, 45?
I think I need a wet rag.
Problem solved:
ReplyDeletehttp://popular.ebay.com/passenger-vehicles/delorean.htm
Go back to 06 when the Giants topped Seattle's offer to Zito and prevent it. They'd be hamstrung by that contract. Done.
Here's a question: If you had a time machine, would you go back to 2002 and injure Scott Speizio? Because then this 2010 thing wouldn't have been so amazingly cool. Tough call.
ReplyDeletePlus if you have a time machine and you're going back to 2002, you should probably use it to stop the Iraq war and not to attack a mediocre baseball player...
just cause he's buying a home in seattle doesn't mean he wants to play anywhere besides san francisco. most players don't live in the city in which they play for anyways and seattle is his home town where his father still lives and all his childhood friends are. i just honestly don't think that his buying a house there bodes ill for the giants.
ReplyDeleteI agree with that, Sara. My larger point, which I probably didn't make clear, was that IF Timmy goes anywhere, the Seattle scenario scares me more than the Yankee or Red Sox scenario.
ReplyDeleteBut I think the bottom line is that when you win the World Series, and the team that finished second in the division loses their best player and the team that finished third adds nothing and the team that finished fourth adds very little, you have to find SOMETHING to worry about...
At least you do if you're me.
Nope. I think all those demons have been laid to rest. Speizio can have his homerun. It would have been cooler to prevent the Korean war anyway to give Willie Mays back 2 years of baseball. Although the North Korean news agency (http://www.kcna.co.jp/index-e.htm) has given me countless hours of entertainment....
ReplyDelete