Brian Sabean Rumors
Giants Extend Contracts Of Sabean, Bochy
SUNDAY: Bochy's new contract will pay him close to $5MM per year and he could be second only to the Angels' Mike Scioscia as the highest-paid manager in baseball, reports Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle (on Sulia). Bochy would not comment to reporters, including Schulman, except to say Giants' ownership was "very generous."
THURSDAY, 7:40pm: The Giants have sent another release that does not include the team options for 2017, as they originally indicated. Sabean and Bochy's contracts go through 2016 and do not include team options.
7:31pm: The Giants have extended the contracts of general manager Brian Sabean and manager Bruce Bochy through 2016, according to a team release. Dollar figures for the two contracts have not been released.
The Giants won World Series in 2010 and 2012, so it's not surprising the team would want to keep Sabean and Bochy in the fold. Sabean took over as general manager of the Giants in 1996 and has been on the job longer than any other active GM. Bochy has managed the Giants since 2007.
The team exercised its 2014 options on both Sabean and Bochy last December. Last month, it was reported that the Giants were negotiating extensions with both of them.
Edward Creech contributed to this post.
Quick Hits: Weaver, Giants, Dodgers, Walker
Jered Weaver isn't worried that he might have lost out on a bigger contract when he signed a five-year, $85MM extension with the Angels in 2011, Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles times writes. "I don't give a [expletive]," says Weaver. "You can quote me on that." If not for the extension, Weaver would have been a free agent this past offseason, in which Zack Greinke received a $147MM contract from the Dodgers. Here are more notes from around the majors...
- Giants president Larry Baer is discussing long-term contract extensions with general manager Brian Sabean and manager Bruce Bochy, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Sabean and Bochy are signed through 2014, but, after having won World Series in 2010 and 2012, Baer appears to be planning to keep them in San Francisco much longer, saying their extensions "won't be for one year."
- The Dodgers have discussed an extension with manager Don Mattingly, Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times notes. "I think you might see something come up before the end of the year," says Dodgers chairman Mark Walter. Mattingly is in the last year of a three-year deal. Walter also says that the Dodgers, who already have a $230MM payroll in 2013, still have the financial flexibility to add substantial talent at this year's trade deadline, should the need arise. "I think in terms of who the players are, what we need and what our options are, rather than a total budget," Walter says. An extension for Clayton Kershaw could also be on the horizon.
- The Pirates and second baseman Neil Walker avoided arbitration with a one-year, $3.3MM deal in late January, but "it could be a matter of when, not if" the two parties reconvene talks on an extension, Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review writes. Walker will not be eligible for free agency until after the 2016 season, at which point he will be 31 years old.
Giants Exercise Options On Sabean, Bochy
The Giants exercised their 2014 options on GM Brian Sabean and manager Bruce Bochy, tweets John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle. Bochy joined the Giants initially in October of '06, while Sabean became assumed his role in '96 and is the game's longest-tenured GM. With the pair having won two World Series in a three-year span, it was an easy call to keep them in place for 2014.
Sometime next year the Giants will initiate extension talks for Bochy and Sabean beyond 2014, president and CEO Larry Baer told reporters including Andrew Baggarly of CSNBayArea.com.
Sabean: Belt Staying Put
At times it's not clear where Brandon Belt fits on the Giants' roster. The 24-year-old gets regular plate appearances, but he shares the first base job with Brett Pill, Aubrey Huff and Buster Posey. However, GM Brian Sabean says Belt’s not trade bait.
"He's going nowhere," Sabean told Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle. "The kid's earned his way onto the team ... and we all want him to take over as the first baseman, and help this lineup, and I think it'll turn out that way.”
Sabean cautioned that Belt will have to earn his playing time and noted that some of his at bats have been disappointing. Belt, a top prospect entering the 2011 season, has a .234/.317/.407 line in 259 plate appearances as a Major Leaguer. He appeared in left and right field last year, but has played exclusively at first so far in 2012.
Giants Extend Brian Sabean, Bruce Bochy
The Giants announced that they extended the contracts of GM Brian Sabean and manager Bruce Bochy through 2013. The deals for Sabean and Bochy include team options for 2014.
"They have effectively built and fostered a winning tradition at all levels of our organization," incoming CEO Larry Baer stated. "I have no doubt that they will achieve continued success for the Giants in the coming years and beyond.”
Every MLB team has changed GMs at least once since the Giants promoted Sabean in 1996. The 55-year-old is in the midst of the longest run by a GM in Giants history. He has led the team to five postseason appearances, two NL pennants and a World Championship in 15 seasons.
Bochy, the winningest manager in Padres history, ranks third among active big league managers in wins and is 27th on the all-time list. He has led the Giants to a 409-401 record in five seasons in San Francisco. The Giants had exercised the 2012 options on Sabean and Bochy before the 2011 season.
Odds & Ends: Shell, Kuroda, V-Mart, Okajima, Davies
Links for Monday evening...
- Jon Paul Morosi of FoxSports.com tweets that the Royals have signed reliever Steven Shell to a minor league deal. Shell, 27, had a 3.59 ERA in 72.2 innings with the Mariners' Triple-A affiliate last season.
- Troy Renck of The Denver Post lists the Cardinals, Phillies, and Rockies as some of the teams that were interested in Hiroki Kuroda before he re-signed with the Dodgers (Twitter link). Kuroda, however, re-signed without fielding offers from other teams according to Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times.
- Add the Rangers to the list of teams showing interest in Victor Martinez says SI.com's Jon Heyman (via Twitter).
- WEEI.com's Rob Bradford tweets that Hideki Okajima is subject to a normal arbitration calendar this offseason. In the past the Red Sox had to offer him a contract by November 20th.
- Non-tender candidate Kyle Davies hopes to remain with the Royals, says MLB.com's Dick Kaegel. Davies hasn't heard anything from the team regarding his future.
- Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com reports that Cliff Lee's agent Darek Braunecker is still unsure if he will attend this week's GM Meetings.
- MLB.com's Jane Lee provides a list of power bat the Athletics could potentially pursue as free agents this offseason.
- The Yankees don't believe that Derek Jeter will ultimately leave New York, but they're prepared for a long negotiation according to Heyman (Twitter link).
- Meanwhile, Jon Paul Morosi of FoxSports.com tweets that there is still no word whether or not Andy Pettitte will return to pitch in 2011.
- Cardinals GM John Mozeliak doesn't expect any roster moves at this week's meetings according to MLB.com's Matthew Leach. Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com says the team is growing more optimistic about re-signing Jake Westbrook, however (Twitter link).
- Indians GM Chris Antonetti told Paul Hoynes of The Cleveland Plain Dealer that it's too early in the offseason to tell whether his team's needs will be filled through trades or free agency.
- MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith is on location at this week's GM Meetings in Orlando, and you can follow him on Twitter at @mlbtrorlando for the latest breaking news and analysis.
- There is mutual interest between the Marlins and free agent catcher A.J. Pierzynski, reports Joe Capozzi of The Palm Beach Post. Capozzi says the team might not be able to afford him, though they could free up payroll space by dealing Dan Uggla.
- FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal says that the Dodgers are looking to add power to their lineup, and James Loney is the player they're most most willing to trade. They would then turn around and sign one of the many power-hitting first baseman available on the free agent market.
- Mets GM Sandy Alderson said that the first round of manager interviews includes one or two more candidates while the second round will consist of three or four candidates according to Andy Martino of The New York Daily News (all Twitter links). The second set of interviews could begin in Orlando this week, and Alderson said his father's death on Sunday will not slow things down.
- ESPN's Jerry Crasnick profiles Giants GM Brian Sabean and the work that lies ahead following his team's World Series victory.
- Joe Pawlikowski of River Ave. Blues looks at how signing Lee would impact the Yankees' future payroll. Meanwhile, Brian Cashman told MLB.com's Bryan Hoch that he doesn't expect to get any deals done this week.
- Best of luck to MLB.com's Jordan Bastian. He's trading in the Blue Jays' beat for the Indians' beat.
GM Trade Histories: NL West
Today Brendan Bianowicz updates the GM Trade History series for the NL West. You can download the info-packed Excel spreadsheets below.
- Arizona Diamondbacks - Josh Byrnes
- Colorado Rockies - Dan O'Dowd
- Los Angeles Dodgers - Ned Colletti
- San Diego Padres - Kevin Towers and Jed Hoyer
- San Francisco Giants - Brian Sabean
Giants Re-Sign Bochy, Sabean
The Giants re-signed manager Bruce Bochy and GM Brian Sabean, according to Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News. Both deals are for two years with an option for 2012. According to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle, Bochy and Sabean have incentives but it is not a vesting option.
Bochy and Sabean chatted at length about 2010 about a week ago, so this was expected. Read about the Giants' offseason plans here.
Giants Rumors: Sabean, Bochy, Bradley, Kikuchi
A few notes on the Giants from Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News...
- As Luke mentioned last night, Baggarly expects manager Bruce Bochy and GM Brian Sabean to sign new contracts shortly.
- Baggarly asked a Giants executive with veto power whether he'd approve an Aaron Rowand for Milton Bradley trade. The exec said yes, which makes sense with Bradley owed $21MM and Rowand owed $36MM. Nonetheless Baggarly does not expect the Giants to get involved on Bradley due to potential team chemistry issues.
- Giants scouting director John Barr recently returned from Japan, where he observed hard-throwing high school southpaw Yusei Kikuchi. Baggarly expects the Giants to "make a legitimate run" at Kikuchi if he chooses MLB. The Giants are at least one of ten teams in on the pitcher.
Giants Rumors: Lincecum, Sanchez, Penny
Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News has the goods on the Giants, after speaking with GM Brian Sabean and manager Bruce Bochy.
- Technically, Sabean and Bochy's contracts are up at the end of the month. They don't have commitments for 2010 in hand, yet the expectation is that both will be back.
- In discussing Tim Lincecum's upcoming arbitration case, Sabean referenced Ryan Howard's record first-time award ($10MM) from February of '08. Of course, with Howard, the Phillies screwed up by submitting only $7MM. Sabean wants to file his salary request for Lincecum before discussing a long-term deal, so as to not show his hand early.
- Closer Brian Wilson is another first-time arbitration-eligible player, and you have to think he'll jump up to $5MM+.
- The Giants would like to restructure Freddy Sanchez's $8.1MM option into a two-year deal, but seem confident in his return. Baggarly says they even consider the option as a fallback if the restructuring fails. I can't see Sanchez getting $8.1MM on the open market.
- A Brad Penny return appears unlikely. If he sticks to the NL and the West Coast he'll be down to the Padres pretty much. It'd also be surprising to see the Giants re-sign catcher Bengie Molina, who wants a two-year deal worth more than $6MM annually.
- Sabean wouldn't rule out trading a pitcher for a bat, but said he'd agonize over such a decision.
- Brandon Medders, Justin Miller, and Ryan Garko are non-tender candidates. The Buster Posey and Madison Bumgarner call-ups locked up two 40-man roster spots.
- Quoting Baggarly: Sabean justified the $18.5 million contract he gave [Edgar Renteria] last winter by saying they needed a veteran shortstop."
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