With the suspension of Melky Cabrera, the San Francisco Giants have a proverbial question mark in their outfield alongside Angel Pagan and Hunter Pence moving forward. They could resign him, but they could also look elsewhere, and there's a very big free agent outfielder hitting the market this offseason in Josh Hamilton.
ESPN's Buster Olney mentioned on Twitter about where Hamilton might land on Wednesday, with the San Francisco Giants named as a likely landing spot.
Asked some execs this week where they think Josh Hamilton will land in 2013 (and beyond) and one NL official put in a strong vote for SFG.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) September 19, 2012
Of course this is all speculation, but the prospect of a Hamilton, Pence, Pagan outfield is almost worth drooling over. You could further speculate a resigning of Cabrera to a "I'm sorry for cheating" discount to be an All-Star Game MVP fourth outfielder, but let's stick with Hamilton.
Put him in either left or center field, he'll cover ground well at AT&T. He could also add to the pedigree set by Barry Bonds as a true left-handed power bat the short porch in right field is made for. Bringing along his .304 career average and almost guaranteed 100-plus RBI a year would go a long way in keeping pace with the Los Angeles Red Sox Dodgers as well.
Sure, there is always the spectre of substance abuse that follows Hamilton, but Giants fans are very supportive of their players and could be a great place for him to thrive for the next chapter of his career. Plus, the Black and Orange clubhouse is one of the loosest in the league, which could prove to be another draw to the Bay for Hamilton.
Is Brain Sabean and the rest of the Giants braintrust going to pony up what should prove to be a lot of dough to nab Hamilton long-term? That's yet to be seen. But if you could solve your outfield problem with a perennial All-Star, I'd say that's a tire worth kicking during the offseason.
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