San Francisco Giants’ Lack Of Utility Depth Brings Up Chone Figgins & Heart Palps

Mar 9, 2013; Melbourne, FL, USA; Miami Marlins second baseman

(1) against the Washington Nationals during a spring training game at Space Coast Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

So by now you’ve probably heard Chone Figgins was released by the Miami Marlins which has the hearts of San Francisco Giant fans fluttering.

Figgins, who played for Bruce Bochy during the All-Star (lolz) tour of Japan – and did so oddly well, given his recent history, has long rumored had a place in the heart of the San Francisco Giants’ front office – even recently as being linked to the orange and black in 2011 when the Seattle Mariners were trying to give him away with bribes of cash.

A few seasons down the road now and Figgins is again on the outs, not exactly a shocker given his woeful numbers. After leaving Anaheim for the Mariners in 2010, Figgins completely fell off the face of the planet, losing his starting gig after his ugly freshman season in the Northwest. Two more seasons of a sub .190 batting average and Figgins was released before being picked up by the Marlins….for a month. Now looking for work again, CSN Bay Area scribe Andrew Baggarly suggested the Giants may look into the 5’8 utility man, though, later said the front office doesn’t appear to be as enamored with the Georgia native as they were at one time (shocking).

Still – outside of Joaquin Arias, the Giants aren’t exactly deep in terms of their reserve infielders. There’s little point to bringing up a young talent like Brock Bond or Nick Noonan to sit on the bench and their continued instance on using Chuck Knoblauch Kensuke Tanaka seems odd, though, it appears he wont be making the team – potentially because he can’t keep from throwing the ball fourteen rows deep into the stands, leaving the Giants lacking in utility depth. Still, looking around, there are better alternatives for the Giants if they feel the need to reinforce their iffy utility depth with another player outside of Figgins, thankfully.