It’s the Giants they better win.

Gardner – Marcus Giles? Do you mean Brian, like Giuseppe thought, or are you hitting the pipe again? And not the most sterling citizen, but I wouldn’t mind the walking board game Milton Bradley for RF – switch hitter, power, etc. – but his knee might not allow him to be a full timer. Might make him cheaper. Don’t want to stack up DH candidates with Jorge and Hideki on the roster, so maybe not.

Giuseppe – Bay is a LF, but I’d be okay with him if he could handle the switch and has the arm. RF is the easier one in the Stadium, as it is in Pitt. The Pirates are desperate for pitching, both start and relief, so we should be able to find a fit. They’d also like a 3B. We look to be set there for, oh, up to 9 years? Could Brad Suttle be part of the package?

I still kind of like a combo trade now for Marte and Nady. Marte is short term in Pitt – he has an option for ‘09 for $6 mil! That ain’t gettin’ picked up by anybody. And Nady is still arb eligible for ‘09, at $3.35 now, and can play 1B if necessary as well. They have Pearce and McCutcheon sitting in AAA OF, so they need to ditch one of the OF’s. Lots of teams could be in on these 2, so the package could be pricey. They might like to move 1B LaRoche too, but I’m not so sold on him.

Also keep:
Joba, Wang, Kennedy, Hughes, A-Rod, Jeter, Posada, Matsui, Molina, as many of the prime pitching prospects as possible.

Try to get:
CC, Tiexiera

Trade with:
Damon, Cabrera, Betemit

I’m not sure what to do with:
Cano (Mr. Second Half), Abreu (nobody better for less $?)

Cut loose:
Giambi, Farnsworth, Hawkins, Ponson, Bruney, Pavano

(On second thought, let’s give Carl another chance and offer him a guaranteed 3-year extension with a signing bonus & a player option year ta boot. Awww, c’mon guys …)

I don’t know what the best available options are:
2B, backup INF, 2 or maybe even 3 OFs

Sabathia
Wang
Pettitte
Chamberlain

Best
1-2 combo
1,2,3 combo
and
1-4 combo MLB

Next closest would be Arizona or the Mets if Pelfrey is Pelfrey of the last few starts