Grady Sizemore a Good Fit for Giants

Free agency's on the horizon and while we know that the Giants need to re-sign their pitching staff, we also know that the team desperately needs some bats.

So how do you feel about current -- and possibly former -- Indians outfielder Grady Sizemore?

It's not necessarily a longshot per se, and Sizemore, the former MVP candidate who's struggled mightily with injuries the last few years could be a good fit, for a number of reasons.

For starters, he's likely to be available, unless the Indians pick up his $8.5 million option for next year. That would be very surprising.

Indeed, Buster Olney of ESPN first broached the likelihood that the Indians won't pick up Sizemore's option a few weeks ago, and John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle points out Sunday that if they don't, Sizemore makes sense in AT&T Park.

"It could be worthwhile for a team to take a one-year flier on Sizemore, who hopes his Oct. 3 arthroscopic knee surgery will put him back in business," Shea writes.

So that's reason No. 2 why Sizemore makes sense: he'll be cheap. Not only will Sizemore have difficulty demanding a pile of money from a team in free agency, but he won't likely be looking for a long-term deal.

Instead, expect Sizemore to find a team that can provide him with a short-term landing spot to boost his value back up with a reasonable one-year deal.

If Sizemore struggles with his health or can't find his bat again, it's no harm, no foul and the Giants would move on.

But the upside (reason No. 3) is why Sizemore's worth it -- we're not that far removed from 2007, when Sizemore was 10th in the MVP balloting, made the All-Star game, won a Gold Glove and won a Silver Slugger award.

He's a hell of a player (5.9, 7.3, 6.1, 5.1 WAR from 2005-2008) who just hasn't been healthy in a few years.

But tack on some incentives for Sizemore's deal -- how about something similar to the $2 million-ish in bonuses he's currently slated to make if he goes to the All-Star Game, is high ranking in the MVP, etc -- and suddenly he could be a motivated outfielder with 30/30 potential.

And while this sounds like a dangerous retread, bear in mind that Sizemore looked like an All-Star for most of the 71 games he played in 2011.

If there's a chance that he can get his full game back, the Giants should take it.

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