Ok so I know that getting Upton would be a great move, but I doubt that Sandy will pull the trigger to get it done in the end. So, This is what I would do if I was Sandy for the rest of 2013:
-Sign Scott Hairston 2 years/$10 million
-Sign Brian Wilson 1 year/$3 million with incentives
-Sign Carl Pavano 1 year/$3.5 million
-Sign Ryan Rayburn to a minor league deal with an invite to spring training
-Sign one of Chad Durbin or Jon Rauch
If we do this, we'd look something like this on opening day:
C- Buck( with TDA waiting in the wings)
1B- Ike Davis
2B- Murph
3B- David
SS- Tejada
LF- Duda
CF- Kirk
RF- Hairston
Bench- Baxter, Recker, Cowgill, Turner, Valdespin
SP
Santana
Harvey
Niese
Gee
Pavano
(With Zack Wheeler coming up shortly or to replace Santana when/if he is hurt or traded)
Bullpen
Wilson
Francisco
Parnell
Edgin
Rauch
Laffey/Carson/Mejia/Familia
I would go to war with that team in 2013. We're not expected to compete, and this team would give us a lot of flexibility in the coming years when we will be ready to compete. We would have the financial flexibility to add 2 OF in the 2014 free agent class, and then we could really go for a playoff spot in 2014