It's definitely early. And I like the patience, but there are a few things that concern me:

Posey - Maybe he is not ready. Personally, I would let his spring tell me more about his readiness, but I understand the need to make these decisions now to prepare of the season.

Penny - He's healthy, and I am sure he is asking for a lot of money, so I am cool with moving on. If they don't trade a starter, they need to fill one spot, with Bumgarner, Pucetas, Martinez as possibilities, and a hoard of guys coming off injuries who can compete for the fifth spot like Chris Capuano, Kelvim Escobar, Brett Myers, or even healthy guys like Doug Davis, Todd Wellenmeyer, etc. Probably no need to overspend for Penny to be the 5th starter (though signing him or an equal FA starter would make a starting pitcher trade for a bat more likely).

Uribe - I feel like the brass is sort of underestimating the contribution of Uribe (and, to a lesser extent the performance of middle relief guys like Medders and Miller). With an aging SS and an injury-prone 2B, the team needs a semi-regular type guy to fill in frequently. And Uribe, despite his free swinging ways, at least brings power, which the team doesn't really have. And he plays solid D at 3 positions. I don't know what he is asking for and I don't know what the Giants offered, but I might go as high as 4 mil for Uribe.

So, if all of the above are out? where to now? Mentioned the pitching above. As for a utility guy, if you want to go the Uribe-like route, a scrap heap guy who outperformed his salary, the only guy I see is Khalil Greene or maybe Bobby Crosby, though you are likely to get better glove work from Greene. Both are risky, and IMO, riskier than Uribe was last year.

There are others, but they seem slightly more desirable to the rest of the league.

Omar Infante - had a great year (for him) with the bat and very versatile.

Jamey Carroll - older, gets talked about a lot, nothing great except with the glove

Alex Cora - nice vet, not much bat.

Jerry Hairston - at least he has some pop.

The more I look at this list, the more I like Uribe. They need someone to spell Renteria on a regular basis, IMO.

Catcher is a different problem. If they really are planning that Posey doesn't play regularly in the majors this year there are only a few real full time catchers on the market: Bengie Molina, Jason Kendall, Miguel Olivo, I-Rod.

Olivo would be good, but he is 30 and coming off a 20+ homer year. He'll get a multi-year deal.

Kendall and I-Rod seem like the most likely guys to accept one-year deals and be able to handle full-time catching. Maybe Yorvit, but he has never been a full-time catcher.

It's going to be an interesting off-season.