“I guess … I don’t know,” Cain told CSNBayArea.com. “I’m hesitant to answer that question because I’m thinking about the times I’ve had playing with these guys, growing up in this organization. I’m definitely going to enjoy this season to the fullest with whatever happens. But you also think about going to free agency, and you might not have that chance again. So you really are torn between the two sides. It’d be hard to say it’s one way or the other.” (CSN BayArea)

Listening to his teammate Barry Zito it’s sounding like the hold up on a deal is more about money.

“It’s more complicated than, `The Giants want Cain and Cain wants to stay,’” Zito said. “This is a game and we try to keep it that way in most aspects. But the fact is, it’s a business. You’ve got to be as tedious about getting business handled as you are about stuff on the field. That’s just a fact.” (CSN BayArea)

I think I’d agree with Zito especially when you take a look at other things Cain has said. Andrew Baggarly of CSN Bay Area doesn’t give all the quotes but he does give us a look into Cain’s thinking. He basically says that the sides are apart because the Giants haven’t offered him a deal close to what he perceives to be market value.

That value should be in the $100 to $120 million dollar range. Teams are going to pounce on the chance to sign a guy of his caliber so you can easily expect nine figures. Especially when a team like the Los Angeles Dodgers could have new owners.

I doubt anything happens by Opening Day but we’ll see how this whole thing plays out.

@JonHeymanCBS: ryan theriot in agreement with #giants on 1 yr deal. gives them good veteran ss option.

The team planned on going forward with Brandon Crawford but wasn’t sure if he was ready for the role as a full-timer. Crawford himself batted .204 with 3 homers and 21 rbi over 229 plate appearances. So can you blame them for seeking help?

Theriot wasn’t that impressive in 2011 batting only .271 with 47 rbi, one homer and four steals over 483 plate appearances. Not impressive at all but a veteran was what the Giants and that’s what they got.

The interesting part is it’s a non-guaranteed deal, normally teams would just offer a minor league deal with a spring training invite. What this tells me is the Giants think they’ll be keeping Theriot but want to protect themselves from paying his full salary if it doesn’t work out.

I’d expect a platoon situation in 2012 with Theriot getting a majority of the starts early on. If Crawford’s bat heats up though then things can change quickly.

@JonHeymanCBS: Heard ryan ludwick has at least 4 job offers. Popular fellow.

I only know of two teams interested and they’re both in the Bay area. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle recently said that both the Oakland Athletics and San Francisco Giants have interest. Who the other two teams are I have no clue.

I can’t help but think how desperate are these teams if he’s so popular? In 2011, Ludwick batted .233 with 13 homers and 75 RBI over 490 at-bats. He drove in some runs yea, but those are some god awful numbers.

I’m thinking teams are just writing it off to Petco Park as his numbers did drop off since he left the St. Louis Cardinals. I can’t do that though as his numbers were just as atrocious once he joined the Pittsburgh Pirates. In 25 games at PNC Park he only hit 1 homer and batted .229.

So my, I’ll just say teams are still stuck in 2009 and think this game has some real potential. Too bad he’s 33 now and heading down fast.

An excellent Rockies source said: “There is absolutely no truth to the Cody Ross stories. The Rockies have always liked Cody as a player but we have no fit at all in our outfield.” (Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post)

While a player like Ross would help the Rockies outfield, there’s just simply no room. They’ve got Carlos Gonzalez, Dexter Fowler and Michael Cuddyer as starters, they’ve also got Seth Smith. So as you see where would Ross fit in? Unless there’s a trade in the works involving Seth, then I just don’t see anything happening.

The other problem is Ross would ideally want a multi-year contract. If he were to be the fourth outfielder only thing I could see the Rockies offering him is a one-year deal. Something he’d probably not accept.

@SI_JonHeyman: Hearing #redsox may make play for beltran. #giants will be in, too.

Is anyone really shocked by this? I know I’m not, we knew the Sox would be involved, we knew the Giants would and we also know that the New York Yankees will be. I’m also pretty sure the Philadelphia Phillies will kick the tires too.

The question will be what team is willing to pony up the dollar signs over multiple years. Personally, I think it will come down to whatever team that gets that desperation feeling. That feeling that they’ve got to make a move.

Yankees: They’ll feel Beltran out and see how much money he does want since everyone in the Yankees Universe is tired of Nick Swisher disappearing in the postseason.

Phillies: They could use a left fielder as Raul Ibanez is a free agent. Sorry, Philly faithful but John Mayberry Jr is not your answer, unless you’re talking about a platoon. Plus he’ll be needed at first base early on with Ryan Howard out.

Red Sox: JD Drew is finally gone so there is a need for a right fielder. They’ve got no one ready to make that jump to the majors so free agency. Sorry, Red Sox Nation but Ryan Kalish is going to need some minor league seasoning after missing almost all of 2011.

Giants: In my mind this is the most likely destination for him. He was an absolute beast for San Francisco after being trade, he was a completely different player then he has been in New York. He was the force he used to be, batting .323 with nine doubles, four triples and seven homers in just 167 at-bats with most of that damage coming at AT&T Park.

So are one of the big three desperate enough? Was he happier being out of the big city lights? Will he just chase the money? I can’t wait for the World Series to end to start to answer these questions.

Pablo Sandoval fractured his hamate bone in his right wrist. It’s a huge blow for him as he was having a huge comeback season after cutting over 40 pounds of weight. His current line was an average of .313 with five homers and 14 runs batted in. Hopefully he can pick up where he left off and not revert back to his 2010 shape during his time away.

@hankschulman: Surgery for Panda likely Tuesday in AZ.

@hankschulman: Told Panda prognosis is 4-6 weeks.

Now Ryan Zimmerman’s injury is even worse. He tore his rectus muscle and will need surgery to repair it. Get your head out of the gutter it’s not what you think! The rectus muscle is part of the abdominal area, from what I’ve read it’s part of the six-pack. Ryan’s only played in eight games this season but had some impressive numbers .357 with a homer and seven rbi.

Ryan hasn’t played since April 9th as the team was trying rehab in hopes that that would help. Unfortunately it didn’t and now he’ll be out for six to eight weeks.

@MarkZuckerman: Rizzo: Zimmerman has tear of rectus muscle in abdomen. Surgery Tues in Philly. Expected back in 6 weeks.

Like I said tough day for a couple star baseball players, hopefully there aren’t any other announcements today.

@extrabaggs – Bochy talked to Pablo Sandoval, who appears to be a bench guy now. Bochy said he’d start Renteria, if healthy, and move Uribe to 3B in COL.

I’m amazed it’s taken a team in the playoff race to take this long to make a move. Sandoval hasn’t been horrible this season but he’s had some stretches where he’s looked that way, especially recently. For the season, Pablo is batting .263 with 12 hrs and 60 rbis. During the month of September (15 games) he’s batting an absolutely dreadful .136 with only two runs batted in and even worse, only one extra base hit.

His September flop is actually surprising to me as in the month of August, he’s looked a lot like last years Kung-Fu Panda. The Giants probably thought their boy was back and the National League West title would be theirs, but obviously not. It was just, what it was, a hot streak.

Sending Sandoval to the bench is a good thing for the Giants as they race for the playoffs but if they want future success they need to get his head straight. In 2009, he proved he an anchor in any lineup, so maybe it is time to shut him down. Give him some rest and clear his head, something that small could be enough to make something click.

The DBacks have eight more days to try and trade Byrnes to another team, only catch is he has a no trade clause and can refuse any deal he doesn’t like. With his 2010 salary at $11 million he’d be pretty hard to trade anyways, especially since he hasn’t hit higher then .226 or more then 8 homers since 2007. Most of that is due to injuries but regardless his stock has dropped majorly so not many, if anyone, would trade for him at that rate.

The most likely option is for the Diamondbacks to outright release him this week and eat the salary. They’ll just pay him the $11 million and let him hit free agency. Byrnes know that is the most logical case which led to him saying the Giants were his “best fit”.

“It’s not a real secret (that) I’d definitely be interested,” Byrnes said in a phone interview. “The Giants, of course, that’s the best fit geographically.”

Knowing he’ll get his paycheck next season he’ll be willing to sign for the league minimum next season, something that should surely appeal to the Giants. What may be even more appealing is that Byrnes has done something not many other athletes would do. He didn’t come out saying he can still be a dominant player, he swallowed his pride and said what kind of player he actually is now.

“I’m not in a position to say I’m an everyday player. The most important thing for me at this point in my career is to help a team win, wherever that is,” said Byrnes.

In my opinion, the Giants would be foolish not to sign him at the league minimum. For a team working within a tight budget he’d be much more cost effective then going after a player like Johnny Damon.

Byrnes may not be an everyday starter anymore, he may not provide the big offensive numbers but he’s still a pretty good outfielder and still athletic enough where he can give the starters at all three outfield positions a break. He can also provide enough on the offensive side to where he wouldn’t be a total liability.

Byrnes calls the Giants his “best fit” but you know what Byrnes might also be the “best fit” for the Giants.

“They’re beyond our limits,” he said. “We don’t have the wherewithal to pay them the dollars they want.”

With the Giants pitching staff being as good as it is this team is very close to contention. One or two big bats could easily put them over the top in the National League West. Not even attempting to land one of the marquis guys has to be very disheartening.

So it looks like once again the Giants are going to go discount shopping, looking for the almighty bargain. There’s still some guys out there that could really benefit this team but wouldn’t it of been nice to see them spend some money? You know, bring in a slugger who could strike some sort of fear into a pitcher?

It’s really no surprise, Winn is now 35 and his average dropped to .262 (first time under .300 since 2006) and only hit 2 homers (first time not in double digits since 2001). He still plays well above average defense but his offensive production doesn’t justify keeping him on a young team looking to reach the playoffs.

Although, Winn could be a productive fourth outfielder for a playoff contender. He could be a teams late game speed threat and/or a late game defensive specialist. Landis says his client isn’t ready for that type of role thou and would prefer to be an everyday player.

Unfortunately for Winn, he is the leader amongst all active players for games played without a postseason appearance. At his age and with his abilities he’ll be hard pressed to break that if he wants an everyday role.

So in reality he’s got two choices.

1.) Be an everyday player but for a team without much of a chance to succeed.

or

2.) Accept his fate and take the fourth outfielder role with a contender and hope he can finally break his playoff-less streak.