"From a financial standpoint, this has been a good offseason for the Giants. It's always a good offseason when you don't have to deal with Scott Boras and other agents whose sole function in life - aside from amassing great riches for themselves - is to turn baseball's salary structure into an unwieldy joke.

Forget this "what's best for the client" nonsense. If that were the case, Prince Fielder would have signed by now with the team that best fits his desires. If you're dealing with Fielder, Albert Pujols or any other superstar on the free-agent market, you're going to be robbed, you'll commit to more years than common sense suggests, and you'll almost certainly regret the deal within three or four years."