As we've all seen, the pitchers/scouting has adjusted to Panda and he hasn't made the adjustment to them. He has become a jumpy, overweight, free swinger. His only saving grace is his slightly above average play at 3B. Right now, he is a poor man's Pete Happy, prime to prime comparison. Pete Happy was a sure thing for .260, 15-20hrs, 80rbi's and gold glove caliber defense at 3B. Pete Happy was also good for at least 5-6 clutch hits (game changers) a year.

My inital hope is that Panda is just merely experiencing the infamous "sophomore slump". Upon the slighest reflection, we all see that he has some major flaws, mainly his weight and any sort of plate discipline. Now the former should absolutely be resolved this offseason, with a minimum goal for him to lose 25-30 lbs, at a minimum. If he can't or won't do this, IMO the Giants should trade him as soon as the Winter ends, period. This one thing is non-negotiable from my standpoint.

As for his plate discipline, I'd reccommend that he spend the entire ST taking pitches until he gets to two strikes. He needs to get significantly better and much more comfortable at hitting with two strikes. Right now, he is an automatic out w/ two strikes. He either strikes out on fastballs at his shoulders or offspeed pitches in the dirt, low and away. If he makes contact, he is more than likely on his front foot and hits a slow dribbler just past the pitcher. The examples for him should be Pat "the bat" and Huff, who go up to the plate with a plan to work the count to 2-0 or 3-1 and then, let it fly. As we've seen, with batting approaches like this, the G's are also much more likely to knock out the starting pitcher by the 6th inning.

If and a big if, at this point, Belt emerges as the 1B in SEPT and in ST and Panda FAILS to address these two areas, 3B becomes the real need this coming Winter/Spring. Panda probably still has some legitmate trade value and could probably net some good prospects to replenish the farm system. It has become clear that beyond Wheeler the G's are lacking A type starting pitching talent/prospects. Panda might net this type of return if Sabean doesn't wait too long.

Solutions at 3B: Beltre, 32, will be the most desirable on the market, followed by Aramis Ramirez,33, and then Jorge Cantu, 29. this is assuming Uribe is re-signed to play SS, which I believe will get done. Add the third tier of choices: Wigginton, Inge and Jose Lopez, who may have the biggest upside if he can rebound.. All of these alternatives are just stop gaps, so I hope Panda doesn't force the Giants hand and put them in a position where they have to trade him..