Bending or breaking?

Alfonzo signing gives Giants more flexibility than Gumby

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- They have flexibility now, the San Francisco Giants do, which is a nice thing for a team that's lost a second baseman, a third baseman and two-thirds of its outfield.

Yes, the Giants are flexible, all right. They're Gumby-like. They have a Twister of a team. They're the Nadia Comaneci of the National League. It's all very good.

Because, really, the Giants will have to bend over backward if they're going to get anywhere close to the World Series in 2003.

San Francisco signed free-agent infielder Edgardo Alfonzo on Sunday, which was huge news at baseball's winter meetings here because A.) The deal was for four years and $26 million, both bigger numbers than many thought he'd get, and B.) His signing pretty much puts an end to second baseman Jeff Kent's run by the Bay.

The Giants were a little reluctant to drive in the final nail on Kent -- "Anything's possible," is how general manager Brian Sabean put Kent's chances of coming back, "perhaps less probable [now]" -- but, in effect, Kent is gone. As gone as Reggie Sanders, Kenny Lofton and David Bell, three other regulars on last year's team.

Granted, Kent still could come back. The Giants offered him arbitration, and he could accept it, which would force the Giants to take him back for at least this season, and wouldn't that screw things up?

But Kent has been looking for a long-term deal all along. And his agent has given the Giants an indication that there are other teams (the Cubs and old manager Dusty Baker?) who are interested.

So Kent will probably take his 37 home runs and his 108 RBIs (six straight seasons of 100-plus RBIs, in fact) and his .313 average and his ability to protect Barry Bonds in the lineup and go somewhere else, leaving the Giants with a huge hole to fill.

But, you know, they have a lot of flexibility.

The Giants will instead go with Alfonzo, a quality hitter who has a lifetime .292 average and is solid in the clutch (.318 lifetime with runners in scoring position). He has a balky back, too, and his power numbers are not nearly what they used to be, not nearly Kent's.

The Giants also will go with Ray Durham, who they recently signed for four years and a little over $20 million. And they may have to go with young Pedro Feliz. He has a .239 big-league average.

Where they'll play, no one knows. Durham is a second baseman who is willing to play third or center field. Alfonzo can play either second or third. Marquis Grissom, who signed a two-year, $4.25 million deal, can play a couple of spots in the outfield, which helps because the Giants, remember, lost two-thirds of their outfield.

Feliz plays only third, but there's no guarantee he'll make the club.

It's all very exciting to new Giants manager Felipe Alou. It's all very new new.

"I'm not used to this thing -- acquiring players," said Alou, the one-time manager of the long-suffering Montreal Expos. "So now I'm waiting for more."

Alou, unfortunately, could get more than he bargained for. The Anaheim Angels, who beat the Giants in the Series last October, are working hard to stay in one piece. The Angels decided not to offer contracts to Alex Ochoa and Orlando Palmeiro, but most of the rest of the team is back.

Meanwhile, the Giants are in flux. And if Kent accepts arbitration, where he could make as much as $12 million, even more players would have to be moved. As it is, the Giants already are over the budget they've set for themselves, which is somewhere around $75 million.

"I know we're going to get somebody else," Alou said. "Brian is a real go-getting guy."

Yes, things can change. Things will change. Kent could re-sign and play second, Alfonzo could play third, Durham could roam center, Grissom would take over in right and the Giants would, again, be a threat in the NL West.

Even if Kent leaves, as expected, there's still plenty of time to make other moves.

The one thing the Giants don't want to do: Get any more flexible.

John Donovan is a senior writer for CNNSI.com.

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