E.K. NATION

Two years ago we referred to Steve Finley as an "honorary Giant" for his late-inning heroics that beat a team the Giants were battling. Now, and get your brain ready for a sentence that is 100 words long, in a move that is pleasing for the main reason that Steve Finley can't actually get any clutch hits that damage the Giants, like he's done in years past, oh, and also because he has been known to have good range in the outfield, and also because Edgardo Alfonzo can't stink up the joint for the Giants anymore, the Giants acquired Steve Finley from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Near Dana Point But Nowhere Close To Goose Bay, Newfoundland, Canada, in exchange for Edgardo Alfonzo.

And we realize that we hadn't yet made a comment about the acquisition of Cardinals pitcher Matt Morris, so here goes: We like this acquisition. We needed another solid starter and fortunately we abandoned, for a moment, any attempts to get a reliever. We also note that the two pitchers who faced the Giants in their pennant-winning NLCS Game 5 in 2002 are now Giants themselves, Steve Kline having been picked up in the LaTroy Hawkins trade.

However, we are still looking for one more solid bat to be placed somewhere near Barry Bonds in the lineup. Finley's had pop in the past but he's definitely not going to scare any manager into ordering his ace to throw to Barry. The outfield is pretty shored up; the only infielder really who comes close to fitting this bill is Joe Randa, unless we have forgotten somebody. Randa'd be perfect; he's already 36. He'd be a spring chicken on this team.