Time To Let Omar Leave With Some Class

Like most Giants fans, we love Omar Vizquel. It's been a pleasure being able to see him play every day for the past few seasons. As cliché as it sounds, he plays the game the right way, and he plays it with an infectious joy rarely seen, especially on a team that's been disappointing ever since he signed. However, the stats don't lie. Omar can no longer sustain himself as an everyday player at the major league level. His line of .156/.234/.180 is one of the worst in all of baseball, and even his continued stellar defense cannot make up for those numbers. It's unfair to the Giants organization and to Omar to keep throwing him out there on a team that's going nowhere.

That said, I still think there is a place for Vizquel on a major league team, just not this one, and not as an everyday player. The Giants should look to trade Omar to a contender, and there actually seems to be plenty of teams that would value his services. One team that I think matches up very well with the Giants is the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays already have their own slick-fielding, weak-hitting shortstop in Jason Bartlett (.252/.296/.282). But the Rays have shown, with additions such as Cliff Floyd and Troy Percival, that they value a veteran leadership presence. Who knows, a switch to a young, exciting, contending team (not to mention a warmer climate) may energize Omar. The Rays may wish to keep Vizquel within the organization. What better mentor for shortstop Tim Beckham, the recent number one overall draft pick.

The Giants won't get much in return from the Rays, but there are a couple interesting players that could be targeted. One is infielder Ben Zobrist, who has failed to stick at the major league level but has a solid minor league track record. Another is catcher Shawn Riggans, who has swung the bat adequately as a backup to Dioner Navarro, and would be a far better option than Steve Holm. That's just what I came up with off the top of my head, but neither seems all that unreasonable. As far as a replacement for Vizquel, the obvious option is Emmanuel Burris, who has been a nice surprise this season but I doubt whether he's really ready to play every day. A better temporary option might be Ivan Ochoa, who's having a very good season in Fresno (.312/.395/.436) and has little left to prove in the minors. If the Giants could acquire Zobrist in a trade, he'd obviously be an option as well. The best solution would be that the Giants get a high draft pick and land a legitimate major league shortstop prospect, but you never know how that's going to play out.

For the moment, the Giants need to give Vizquel a shot with a contender rather than making him languish on a team that is trying to get younger.