Uehara Signs with Orioles

Even though an incentive based $10 million guaranteed contract is nothing to look past, I still wonder whether or not Uehara could've gotten more from another team or rather (and more likely) the timing in which he became a free agent, with the U.S. economy being the way it is and most teams clamping down on spending, played a factor.

Whatever the case maybe, I wish Uehara the best of luck during the upcoming season as I am a big fan and have always enjoyed watching him pitch.

What? You've enjoyed watching a Giant pitch? Is there something you're not telling us, like you have a Giabbit in your closet?

Haha, I hate to admit it, but I also enjoyed watching Uehara pitch. He's one of the two Giants I actually don't mind (Yoshinobu Takahashi being the other).

I really hope he does well, except against my Mariners. Maybe we should start a separate thread of secret confessions where we all must name at least one Giants player we like.

Oo, this is a fun chain.

You know, Yoshinobu used to be "the Giants player I actually like," but I think somehow in the last year or two I became ambivalent about him. If I had to name two Giants I secretly (or not-so-secretly) like, they'd have to be Takahiro Suzuki and Tetsuya Utsumi. Suzuki is just so completely ... not like a Giants player, in every way possible - except for wearing the dreaded orange.

Speaking of orange, I find it amusing that Uehara won't even have to change his color scheme.

You've got me Westbay. I do indeed have a large Giabbit in my closet sitting next to my Abe and Takahashi shrine. I thought nobody would ever catch on.

You can only hate a player because he plays for a team that you don't care for for so long. Eventually, talent and ability will win out. Uehara has been one of the few Giants players who've I've liked who were Giants for their entire careers (not that I ever hated Uehara to begin with in the first place).

I've always been split on Uehara. Obviously I couldn't cheer for him in a Giants uniform. When he wept on the mound, I couldn't take him seriously, but another part of me cheered him on for wanting to challenge the hitter instead of playing the silly old game of cheaply helping your teammate win the home run title.

So, I guess I'll still be split and can root for him when he plays the Yankees and against when he plays the Red Sox. In any case, he better get used to losing after many years of winning with the Giants. Playing in arguably the toughest division in baseball, the Orioles are going nowhere for the next couple years. Still, that helps his chances of getting a shot in the rotation.