Willingham is solid and can be had for less years than a Beltran. We ended up with an Aaron Rowand when the G-men didn't have a WS to fall back on and had to sign a big bat. Look what happened to Aubrey Huff. He is not as solid as Willingham is today, but signs a cheap one-year deal because he wasn't doing well, the Giants needed hitting, and the self-imposed salary cap. The following year, we had to sign him to a huge $22 M deal. What Willingham would do is replace Huff and give them a chance to trade Huff if he starts off well in 2012.

Another example, what happens when Nate Schierholtz's contract is up. He's going to want to get paid and we may not have the $s for him. However, we will have a ready Gary Brown. This is how major league ops works. Sabean has trading pieces, so he should be using those for future picks and getting cash back if they do not want to go over the $130 M self imposed cap. Other teams usually would part with cash easier than good players. It appears that the Giants do not learn from their mistakes. If the Giants fail to make the playoffs again, then they will have to shell out big bucks for someone who is questionable.