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Finley for Alfonzo


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Finley heads to Giants; Angels get Alfonzo

SAN FRANCISCO -- The San Francisco Giants acquired outfielder Steve Finley from the Los Angeles Angels for third baseman Edgardo Alfonzo on Wednesday in a swap of former All-Stars who dropped off dramatically last season.

 

The Giants have been interested in Finley for some time, pursuing him twice previously in free agency -- including last winter before he went to the AL West champion Angels. San Francisco wound up signing Moises Alou.

 

Finley has long produced some of his biggest hits against the Giants while with every NL West rival excluding Colorado, hitting a grand slam for the Dodgers during the final weekend of the 2004 season to keep San Francisco from making the playoffs.

 

"Steve Finley is a player that can win games in many ways -- with his bat, his glove and his knowledge,'' Giants general manager Brian Sabean said. "He will give Felipe [Alou] many options in the outfield along with returning starters Barry Bonds, Moises Alou and Randy Winn, as well as provide great veteran presence.''

 

Finley is likely to be the fourth outfielder if Bonds is healthy, but the Giants have been looking for a lefty to add to their lineup as insurance in case the 41-year-old Bonds is still limited by his troublesome right knee. He had three operations on the knee this year and missed most of the 2005 season.

 

The 40-year-old Finley batted .222 with 12 home runs and 54 RBI in 112 games last season for the Angels, who won the AL West for the second straight year and beat the New York Yankees in five games to advance to the AL championship series before losing to the eventual World Series champion Chicago White Sox.

 

"We were hoping for a better season from him, and I'm sure the Giants were hoping for a better season from Alfonzo as well. Neither had career years,'' Angels general manager Bill Stoneman said. "I talked to Steve and I know he's working as hard as ever.''

 

Finley is a two-time All-Star and five-time Gold Glove winner who has reached the 20-homer mark seven times, including a career-high 36 homers in 2004. He is the only active player with 300 doubles, 100 triples and 200 homers.

 

Alfonzo has struggled for much of his time with the Giants since signing a $26 million, four-year contract following the 2002 season. He is still owed $1 million from a signing bonus that is due Jan. 31, and a $7 million salary for 2006.

 

Alfonzo played in only 109 games last season, batting .277 with two home runs and 43 RBI.

 

"He will come in and take a shot at playing a lot of infield. Whether it would be at second or third will probably be determined in spring training,'' Stoneman said. "By trading Steve Finley, it makes it more likely that Chone Figgins is going to be playing more out in center than he did in the past.''

 

He knew his future with the club was in question because the Giants want to develop Pedro Feliz as a regular starter at one position. He got 569 at-bats last season and played 79 games at third.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2268054

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Honestly the odds of Finley getting back to form are probably greater than the odds of Alfonzo ever finding the skills he once had in New York.

 

Finley back in a new league working his ass off could figure things out. Considering salaries are a wash I like this deal a lot more from the Giants perspective.

 

However, Alfonzo can help out at 2nd and 3rd for the Angels and provide depth if McPherson has any more injuries. I'm guessing this move will mean Erstad is headed to CF with Kochman moving to DH (which is something I like). That part of this deal (if Erstad stays healthy) definately helps the Angels.

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QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Dec 21, 2005 -> 07:21 PM)
By the way, didn't the Giants also re-sign Randy Winn?  Is Steve Finley going to be a fourth outfielder for them?  What a dumb trade.

When 2 of your outfielders are named Moises Alou and Barry Bonds...and your third is Steve Finley...you probably should expect a significant number of your outfielders to spend time on the DL.

 

What I have trouble figuring out is why the Angels want Alfonso. Backup for McPherson?

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The Angels sure have a logjam in their infield right now don't they. I'm guessing another trade could be on the way, perhaps with the Red Sox with Erstad and Cabrera possibly being invovled.

 

Will be interesting to see whether Finley can get back to his 2004 form in the NL. I know back then there were quite a few people here interested in him as that LH power hitter we needed in the middle of the lineup. Good to say, that need has been filled now. :)

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