Decisions loom regarding Huff, Uribe

 Tuesday (Nov. 23) is the deadline for teams to offer salary
arbitration to free agents in order to preserve their right to draft-pick
compensation.

Two of the Giants’ free agents – Aubrey Huff and Juan Uribe -
are Type B free agents. That means if the Giants offer either player salary
arbitration for 2011, and the player declines arbitration, the Giants would
receive a so-called sandwich pick between the first and second rounds in next
June’s first-year player draft if the player signs with another team.

With both Huff and Uribe seeking multi-year deals in free
agency and with the Giants interested in bringing both players back for at least
2011, it stands to reason the Giants will offer arbitration to both. It also
stands to reason both will decline.

But stranger things have happened. We figured Bengie Molina
and the Giants were in a similar situation last year, and the Giants didn’t
offer arbitration. The move ended up paying off, as the Giants re-signed Molina
for a discounted one-year deal.

The process is somewhat of a gamble, as teams are often
reluctant to offer arbitration because they don’t want to lose cost control
over player contracts. But with Huff and Uribe, the move seems worth the risk.