Sabean broke with his routine completely by trading a prospect for a rental. He did it because he and ownership thought they owed the team a chance to repeat. I'm all for that. I'm also all for never doing that in any situation other than that or where the rental will put you into the WS and not hurt you long-term. I really don't think that move signaled anything in terms of future moves.

Also, there is nothing really routine about this year because this team is in the same position as a capped out basketball team. Since the budget has been set at a level where signing a major FA is almost impossible, it's not even a question of whether this is some new policy or not. They just don't have the money unless someone is stupid enough to take on half of Zito's remaining salary or they trade pitching. They should NOT trade pitching.

In two years they'll have freed up $32M a year minus the increases to Cain, Lincecum and much smaller increases to Sandoval, Bumgarner and Posey. They'll know whether guys like Brown and Panik are major leaguers. If they are, there will be money for a big splash without selling the farm but they might not need one. In 2013 this team could be featuring a complete homegrown infield plus a homegrown center fielder, all of whom could be very good players. Barring injury they should still have a solid pitching staff. That leaves two corner outfield spots to worry about, and Nate looks like he could hold one of them for a while.

I'm just not as worried about free agents as some of you guys I guess. And I don't think they've exactly emptied the farm system like they used to. They took a shot with one guy who may or may not be quality and refused to give up some others.

They need to continue drafting well, though. That's the biggest key to it all.