On this date in 2007, the Giants signed Aaron Rowand to a five-year contract. And they've been skittish in free agency ever since.
The first thing you need to do is think of what Aaron Rowand would get today. He was going to be 30, and he was coming off a monster season. He hit .309/.374/.515 with 27 homers and superlative defense in center. It wasn't the first time he had a season like that, it was the second, and he had hit a combined .289/.348/.474 (109 OPS+) over the previous four seasons. In those four seasons, he accumulated more WAR than Manny Ramirez, Johnny Damon, Torii Hunter, Derrek Lee, and Hideki Matsui.