Giants Back Off On Lilly

5:44pm: Upon reviewing Lilly's medical history, the Giants decided to hold off on pursuing a minor league contract at this time, MLBTR has learned.  As we had mentioned earlier, his agreement had been pending a physical.

1:45pm: The Giants have signed lefty Ted Lilly, reports Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish.  MLBTR has confirmed the minor league deal, which is pending a physical.  Lilly, 37, was designated for assignment by the Dodgers last month and released a few days ago.  The Dodgers are on the hook for the remaining $3.7MM or so on his contract, less the prorated portion of the league minimum of Lilly returns to the Majors with San Francisco.  Lilly is represented by Larry O'Brien of Full Circle Sports Management.

Lilly joined the Dodgers from the Cubs at the 2010 trade deadline.  In October that year, he signed a below-market three-year, $33MM deal in lieu of exploring free agency again.  He was solid in 2011, but missed most of 2012 due to shoulder pain, culminating in September surgery.  This April, the Dodgers faced a rotation surplus after signing Zack Greinke and Hyun-Jin Ryu, and got into a standoff with Lilly when he refused a minor league assignment.  Lilly eventually made a couple of starts that month when Chris Capuano went down, but went on to have separate DL stints for rib cage and neck injuries prior to his release.

The Giants make sense for Lilly in that he's a California native, though with Ryan Vogelsong slated to come off the DL Friday, the Giants don't appear to have a rotation spot for the southpaw unless they trade Tim Lincecum or move Chad Gaudin or Barry Zito to the bullpen.  A relief role is also possible for Lilly, however.