Appearing at a news conference Tuesday to answer questions about his new extension, Brian Sabean also discussed the ongoing free agency period and the Giants plans for adding players in order to compete for another World Series title.
And his answers should make Giants fans just about as happy as hearing that the Giants are trying to trade someone who's $5 million option they picked up just two weeks ago.
"There won't be a big splash," said Sabean, per John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle. "It's all going to be a function of what's left in the payroll and what the price point is. Any acquisition in the eyes of the beholder that's considered a sticker-shock type of player, I don't anticipate making a big splash or, let's say, a household name, per se."
Hoo boy. This isn't good news for Giants fans, because it really does reinforce what's been said ever since the Giants began discussing the limited payroll and their budgetary restrictions for 2012.
Couple that with Sabean and Bruce Bochy's innate desire to only pay marginal veterans in free agency, and it shouldn't be shocking that Jose Reyes, Jimmy Rollins and Carlos Beltran are going to be off the table.
Oh yes, and there's the matter of the Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain extensions.
"Pitching is our gold standard, and we have to make sure we take care of that commodity first," Sabean said.
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This is true, but here's the thing: pitching is actually sinking the Giants chances of signing any big-name free agent, because Barry Zito's contract continues to weigh down on the entire organization.
And as a result, it sure seems like any offensive improvement from last year is going to be done by most of the folks already on the roster.
