Giant Upgrade

As the San Fransisco Giants went into this off season they knew they were letting go of the homerun king, Barry Bonds, and with him either finding a new team, retiring, or the unfortunate possibility that he gets arrested, the Giants knew they basically had no outfielders.

Patrolling center would be either Raja Davis or Dave Roberts who were fighting for the position. In right is Randy Winn, who in all likelihood will stay there and in left was probably going to be the loser of the center field job.

Now, Winn, 33, will stay a constant in right while they just inked Aaron Rowand, 30, to a five year deal and are in serious talks in acquiring the Japanese power hitter from the Yankees, Hideki Matsui.

Winn will earn $8 million this season and $8.5 million next season, while Matsui is due $13 million for the next two seasons, and Rowand's five year $60 million, which is the equivalent of $12 million a season, is a bargain, as they get a gold glover and a man coming off probably the best season of his career.

Despite his hitting surge this past season, his defense is his best asset, maybe being best known for breaking his nose this past season as he caught a ball over his shoulder crashing face first into th wall. San Fransisco has a giant outfield that needs patrolling and between Rowand and Winn covering the largest parts of the stadium and Matsui, who has played in center in Japan as well as limited time with the Yankees, the defense and offense will be an upgrade for the Giants.

Barry Bonds, if he plays again if meant for the American League where he doesn't need to take the field all the time, no offense to Davis or Roberts, but Matsui is a power lefty who is a large upgrade over either player, and Winn will remain in place.

As far as next salary, assuming Matsui does get traded to the Giants, Matsui's salary as well as Rowand's and Winn's add up to just $30 million.

For argument sake, say the Giants don't get Matsui, Davis earns next to nothing with just one years experience and Roberts will earn $6.5 million over each of the next two seasons.

Bonds himself earned just under $16 million before bonuses, so the Giants are saving a few dollars as well that may allow them to go after another player such as Pedro Feliz or can just make up for higher and over-paid players such as pitcher Barry Zito, who earned $10 million this past season, but when his contract is average out, will earn $18 million a season.

So, despite the loss of Bonds' bat, it looks like the Giants have upgraded themselves and may only get better in the coming weeks.