SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Free agent shortstop Omar Vizquel has agreed to terms on a $12.25 million, three-year contract with the San Francisco Giants, a person close to the negotiations told The Associated Press on Sunday on condition of anonymity.

 

Vizquel, a nine-time Gold Glove winner, becomes the first of 207 free agents to join a new team, and the second to sign overall after Texas reliever Doug Brocail returned to the Rangers on Friday on a $1 million, one-year deal.

 

The 37-year-old Vizquel, one of baseball's best defensive shortstops and a switch-hitter, batted .291 (165-for-567) with seven homers and 59 RBIs last season for the Cleveland Indians. He also scored 82 runs, stole 19 bases and did not commit an error over the last 55 games.

 

Vizquel filed for free agency last month after the Indians declined to pick up his $5 million option for 2005. Vizquel had said he wanted to return for a 12th season in Cleveland, where he grew into one of the franchise's most popular players, but the Indians said his return would be "a long shot." General manager Mark Shapiro's priority this offseason is pitching.

 

Shapiro did meet with Vizquel and his agent, Adam Katz, last month to discuss the possibility of a return, but nothing came of it. Cleveland had to pay Vizquel a $1 million buyout.

 

Last season, the high-energy Vizquel became just the 19th active player to reach 2,000 hits, and now has 2,147 in 16 major league seasons. He won the American League Gold Glove every year from 1993 to 2001. The Indians acquired him in a trade with Seattle in December of 1993.

 

San Francisco signed Deivi Cruz, the Giants' primary shortstop last season, to an $800,000, one-year contract earlier this month, but general manager Brian Sabean made it clear he was looking for a long-term solution in the position - and told Cruz that, too.

 

San Francisco missed the playoffs, but was in the thick of the NL West race until the final weekend.

 

The Santa Rosa Press Democrat and the Contra Costa Times first reported the story in Sunday's editions.

 

http://msn.foxsports.com/story/3162334

Vizquel was exactly who I wanted at shortstop. Nomar hacks too much, and his glove isn't that good, and he'd cost over 10 million a year. Renteria, while he may be younger, did not have as good a year in 04 as Vizquel did, and he'll probably cost over 10 million a year. Vizquel was the #3 SS on the market, and he's less than half the cost of the other two.

Plus he's a great leader, and solves our defensive problems.

Vizquel was exactly who I wanted at shortstop. Nomar hacks too much, and his glove isn't that good, and he'd cost over 10 million a year. Renteria, while he may be younger, did not have as good a year in 04 as Vizquel did, and he'll probably cost over 10 million a year. Vizquel was the #3 SS on the market, and he's less than half the cost of the other two.

Plus he's a great leader, and solves our defensive problems.

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You guys love old ball players huh.

 

And how exactly did Vizquel have a better year then Edgar when "El Nino" had more homers, rbis and more hits.

3 years? I think that's a little much.

3 years? LOL

whoohoo im gonna get a chance to watch the mighty Vizquel in action

 

 

GOOD DEAL

Vizquel was exactly who I wanted at shortstop. Nomar hacks too much, and his glove isn't that good, and he'd cost over 10 million a year. Renteria, while he may be younger, did not have as good a year in 04 as Vizquel did, and he'll probably cost over 10 million a year. Vizquel was the #3 SS on the market, and he's less than half the cost of the other two.

Plus he's a great leader, and solves our defensive problems.

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You guys love old ball players huh.

 

And how exactly did Vizquel have a better year then Edgar when "El Nino" had more homers, rbis and more hits.

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Vizquel had a higher BA, OBP, and OPS, more walks, fewer strikeouts, more steals, less times caught stealing, and were about equal defensively.

Vizquel had a better year

but.... 3 years??! Are you kidding me?!

but.... 3 years??! Are you kidding me?!

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But he's worth more than 4 million a year, so it evens out, especially considering Renteria and Nomar will probably get around 10 million a year each, and Guzman and Cabrera will probably get more than that

vizquel's a terrific player but do the giants really want to ink a 37-yr-old to a 3-yr contract at the game's most athletically demanding position? they better do their thing and get theirs quick.

but....? 3 years??! Are you kidding me?!

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But he's worth more than 4 million a year, so it evens out, especially considering Renteria and Nomar will probably get around 10 million a year each, and Guzman and Cabrera will probably get more than that

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lol

 

Whatever helps you sleep at night

but.... 3 years??! Are you kidding me?!

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But he's worth more than 4 million a year, so it evens out, especially considering Renteria and Nomar will probably get around 10 million a year each, and Guzman and Cabrera will probably get more than that

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Stop smoking that funny cigarette!

Yeah, I thought it was a bit strange to sign him to a 3 year deal at his age.... Whatever, if he starts to show signs of aging, I'm sure the Giants will do whatever they have to do. If that means having him platoon with someone in the last year of his contract, I'm fine with it.... Maybe he can be a mentor to Cody Ransom (if he's still around). That error he made vs the Dodgers may give him Salomon Torres syndrome. He may never be the same.

Yeah, I thought it was a bit strange to sign him to a 3 year deal at his age.... Whatever, if he starts to show signs of aging, I'm sure the Giants will do whatever they have to do. If that means having him platoon with someone in the last year of his contract, I'm fine with it.... Maybe he can be a mentor to Cody Ransom (if he's still around). That error he made vs the Dodgers may give him Salomon Torres syndrome. He may never be the same.

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He has shown signs of aging the last three years.

He has shown signs of aging the last three years.

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True, but he's still a great shortstop... He's still putting good numbers up and playing great defense. He hit near .300 last year.... He's not the Vizquel he used to be, but he's still better than a lot of shortstops out there.

Yeah, I thought it was a bit strange to sign him to a 3 year deal at his age.... Whatever, if he starts to show signs of aging, I'm sure the Giants will do whatever they have to do. If that means having him platoon with someone in the last year of his contract, I'm fine with it.... Maybe he can be a mentor to Cody Ransom (if he's still around). That error he made vs the Dodgers may give him Salomon Torres syndrome. He may never be the same.

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Ransom is gone. He should never have been on the team in the first place. He can't hit and can't field

He has shown signs of aging the last three years.

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True, but he's still a great shortstop... He's still putting good numbers up and playing great defense. He hit near .300 last year.... He's not the Vizquel he used to be, but he's still better than a lot of shortstops out there.

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.291 7 and 59 is a great shortstop?

He has shown signs of aging the last three years.

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True, but he's still a great shortstop... He's still putting good numbers up and playing great defense. He hit near .300 last year.... He's not the Vizquel he used to be, but he's still better than a lot of shortstops out there.

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.291 7 and 59 is a great shortstop?

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He's great defensively, and when it comes to shortstops defense is a lot more important. You as a Red Sox fan should realize that. Everybody knows Nomar is a much better hitter than Cabrera, but would the Sox have won the World Series if they still had him instead of Cabrera? No. Why? Because Cabrera's much better defensively. I would take a great defensive shortstop over a great offensive shortstop anyday (unless of course the defensive shortstop is awful offensively like Neifi Perez, but that's not the case).

The Giants three biggest weaknesses last year were:

1. No bullpen

2. Lousy defense

3. Too many hackers

This signing definitely solves #2. The shortstop is far and away the most important position defensively. Now that we have a gold glove caliber shortstop, #2 is solved. #3 is also improved. The shortstops we had last year; Neifi Perez and Deivi Cruz; were two of the biggest hackers in the big leagues. Now we have a guy that has nearly 4 pitches per plate appearance, so that improves that.

If you take into account cost and the team needs. The Giants needed a SS with a great glove, decent bat, a patient hitter, and someone who wouldn't eat away at the payroll. If we had no other holes to fill and still had the same budget space, Renteria would have been great. But we do have a couple holes to fill, including a closer, better support for Bonds, and a couple middle relievers. If we were to sign Renteria, we would not have been able to do that. With Visquel, he works almost as well and we still have enough budget room to fix our other problems.

Nomar and Renteria will be making around 10 million a year, while Cabrera and Guzman will probably sign for more than Vizquel did, so I think this was a smart move by the Giants.

Now we gotta go get Percival

If I were the Giants FO, I'd do anything to sign Renteria. Oh well, no WS for Barry ... at least in SanFran.

If I were the Giants FO, I'd do anything to sign Renteria. Oh well, no WS for Barry ... at least in SanFran.

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We'll see about that, Sparky...

 

MaysBonds - Great post. Couldn't have said it better myself. The only thing I'm shaky on is getting Troy Percival. Let's get Benitez instead.... If we can't afford him, then let's get Percival.... Once one of those guys are locked up, who do we get to protect Bonds? Moises Alou?

:lol Stupid Giants.