Giants, A's leading Furcal sweepstakes

Ken Rosenthal - FOX Sports
The Rafael Furcal sweepstakes, accelerating at a rapid pace, appears to be shaping up as a Bay Area showdown between the A's and Giants.

"It's moving pretty fast," Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti told FOXSports.com on Friday. "I don't know if we're going to be in it or not."

The Dodgers want to retain Furcal, who is a favorite of manager Joe Torre, but might be reluctant to meet the player's desire for a four-year contract.

A team's willingness to offer Furcal a fourth year likely will be the difference-maker in the negotiations, major-league sources say.

When the Dodgers signed Furcal prior to the 2006 season, they gave him three years and $39 million. He is 31 now, and coming off back surgery.

Both the A's and Giants were satisfied by what they saw in Furcal's medical records, sources say.

Both teams also might want to move sooner rather than later on Furcal, fearing that a delay could draw the Braves and Cubs into the negotiations.

The Braves would pursue Furcal only if they traded shortstop Yunel Escobar to the Padres in a package for right-hander Jake Peavy; those talks currently are dormant, but many in the industry expect them to revive.

The Cubs, too, are interested in Furcal, but after re-signing free-agent right-hander Ryan Dempster to a four-year, $52 million contract, they probably could not invest heavily in another player until after the team is sold. Bidders have until Dec. 1 to submit offers, Major League Baseball officials said this week.

The A's, lacking a long-term internal solution at shortstop, would use Furcal as their leadoff man in a revamped offense anchored by their newest trade acquisition, left fielder Matt Holliday.

The Giants' projected shortstop, Emmanuel Burris, 23, could move to second base if the team signed Furcal. The Giants also are negotiating with another free-agent shortstop, Edgar Renteria, according to MLB.com — and competing with the rival Dodgers for perhaps the biggest free-agent prize, left-hander CC Sabathia.

If the Dodgers lost Furcal, they could turn their attention to Renteria or Orlando Cabrera, the latter of whom they discussed acquiring in a trade last summer.The team also is trying to re-sign left fielder Manny Ramirez and third baseman Casey Blake, and is expected to make an offer for Sabathia shortly.

Giants' interest in Hudson is becoming serious business

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MLB.com

The San Francisco Giants' pursuit of free-agent second baseman Orlando Hudson, previously considered casual, is apparently serious. Two industry sources said on Thursday that the Giants have reaffirmed their interest in Hudson, who is widely regarded as the leading free agent available at his position according to MLB.com.

No deal is imminent, as is the case with the other free agents atop the Giants' shopping list, including left-hander CC Sabathia, shortstops Rafael Furcal and Edgar Renteria and, possibly, right-hander Juan Cruz. But the Giants' signing on Monday of left-hander Jeremy Affeldt — the first free agent to come to terms — demonstrated the club's intent to seek talent aggressively this offseason.

Hudson, who turns 31 on Dec. 12, is among the Majors' most multidimensional infielders. The three-time Gold Glove winner hit a career-high .305 last season with eight home runs, 41 RBIs and a .367 on-base percentage for the Arizona Diamondbacks. A switch-hitter, Hudson owns a lifetime .282 average.

Hudson plays one of several positions where the Giants seek an offensive upgrade. Their second basemen ranked last in the National League with five home runs, 14th with 78 runs and 12th with a .707 OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging).

Giants bolster bullpen with Affeldt

Club lands sought-after free agent with two-year, $8 million deal

Chris Haft - MLB.com
Acting quickly on their vow to strengthen their bullpen, the Giants signed left-hander Jeremy Affeldt to a two-year, $8 million contract Monday.

Affeldt, 29, became the first of 171 free agents to make a deal since the open signing period began last Friday. "They didn't mess around too much. That's what my agent, Mike Moye, and I were really impressed with," said Affeldt, who didn't sign with Cincinnati last offseason until Jan. 23 and wanted to avoid a similar delay. Affeldt added that the quality of the Giants' starters hastened his decision. "With that starting rotation, the bullpen won't get burned out," he said.

After a season in which their relievers tied for 14th in the National League with a 4.45 ERA and allowed the third-most home runs (62) despite pitching the fourth-fewest innings (487 1/3), the Giants knew that bolstering their bullpen was essential. So they turned to Affeldt, who drew interest from eight to 10 teams.

Signing Affeldt won't slow the Giants' pursuit of other relievers, although general manager Brian Sabean indicated that they'll focus on right-handers. "That'll be the next list we work off of," Sabean said, noting that the Giants have a full complement of left-handers in Affeldt, Alex Hinshaw and Jack Taschner.

Among free-agent right-handers, Bob Howry has drawn interest from San Francisco. Juan Cruz is also believed to be on the club's shopping list, although his agent, Barry Praver, refused to confirm that. And Affeldt endorsed David Weathers, his former Cincinnati teammate who served as a mentor and more. "That guy's one of my best friends, so I'm a little biased to that scenario," Affeldt said.

Affeldt brings several assets to San Francisco.

"He's characteristic of a guy who's coming into his own," Sabean said.

One quality is versatility. Though he'll probably fill a late-inning setup role, his background as a starter enables him to pitch multiple innings with relative ease.

Durability is another. Affeldt led Cincinnati with 74 outings last season, finishing 1-1 with a 3.33 ERA and recording a 2.23 ERA in his final 34 games. In 2007, Affeldt made a personal-high 75 appearances for Colorado.

Accuracy is a third strength of Affeldt's. In 78 1/3 innings last season, he struck out 80 and walked 25 -- a ratio of better than 3-to-1. That's a welcome trait for the Giants, whose 652 walks were the NL's second-most.

"We know how much the bases on balls hurt us," manager Bruce Bochy said.

It wasn't always thus for Affeldt, who struck out 281 and walked 178 from 2002-06 with Kansas City. His improvement began after the Royals dealt him to Colorado in a four-player trade on July 31, 2006.

Rockies coaches, said Affeldt, "felt I didn't pound the [strike] zone enough."

So he focused on refining command of his curveball. Meanwhile, he gained velocity, probably as a result of relieving full-time. With Kansas City, he made 142 appearances as a reliever and 42 as a starter.

Affeldt blossomed with Colorado in 2007, posting a 4-3 record with a 3.51 ERA. He made seven postseason outings for the NL champions, including appearances in all four World Series games against Boston. He accumulated three shutout innings against the Red Sox.

This year, opponents batted .260 and amassed nine homers off Affeldt, but those were largely results of pitching 41 games at hitter-friendly Great American Ball Park. Affeldt permitted seven homers and a .302 average at home, compared with two homers and .203 on the road.

Affeldt owns a 26-28 record with 18 saves and a 4.55 ERA in 360 lifetime appearances.

Giants in talks about top free agents

Henry Schulman - San Francisco Chronicle (SFGate)
The Giants were not prepared to say whether they submitted any formal offers on opening day of the free-agent shopping season Friday, but an official acknowledged the team has made contact with agent Scott Boras, who represents top-hitting free agents Mark Teixeira and Manny Ramirez.

"We've maintained contact with all of the top free agents to some degree with the understanding that we're willing to go after the best talent we can," director of player personnel Bobby Evans said.

The Giants had spoken to pitcher CC Sabathia's representatives but as of Tuesday had not talked to Boras. That has changed.

Teixeira or Sabathia would represent great long-term solutions for the Giants at first base and on the mound. Evans said it is too early to tell whether these are pie-in-the-sky dreams that will be shot down by offers from big-money clubs. Reports from New York say the Yankees faxed Sabathia a $140 million offer for six years.

The Giants' more realistic targets are a middle infielder and bullpen setup men. As of midday, they had not submitted a formal offer for Rafael Furcal, the premier shortstop on the market and one of their supposed targets. Furcal should have plenty of suitors, including Oakland, and is believed to be seeking four years at $10 million per for openers.

Furcal's agent, Paul Kinzer, said Friday there is a potential match with the Giants. "I'll just say we've got serious interest in each other," Kinzer said. "He likes the Giants and they've expressed serious interest."

Asked why Furcal would consider the Giants over teams closer to the postseason, Kinzer said, "Their great young pitching staff. He feels they can be competitive pretty quick."

Other shortstops on the market include Orlando Cabrera, Edgar Renteria, Juan Uribe and Cesar Izturis. The Giants are not ruling out second basemen, either.

The Giants are believed to be interested in one of their former draft picks, Cubs reliever Bobby Howry. Howry's agent, Craig Landis, said in an e-mail, "Howry does have some interest in returning to the Giants. It may be a possibility. It is too early to tell."

Evans said the Giants have some interest in all experienced relievers on the market but does not expect closers such as Kerry Wood, Brian Fuentes or Trevor Hoffman to be interested in coming to San Francisco to set up Brian Wilson.

Zito's mother dies: Funeral arrangements are pending for Roberta Zito, Barry's mother, who died in Los Angeles early Thursday morning. She was 65 and had been hospitalized for three days. The cause of death was not immediately known, but she had struggled with health issues for many years, according to the pitcher's publicist, Kathy Jacobson.

Jacobson said Barry Zito was "heartbroken, as you would imagine, with the loss of his mom. She really was the heart of the family."

The pitcher, his father, Joe, and sisters Bonnie and Sally were at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center when Roberta died. Jacobson said Mrs. Zito attended all of Barry's starts in Oakland and San Francisco until a hip and knee replacement this year prevented her from traveling. She did see Zito's final start of 2008.

Roberta Zito was a member of the Merry Young Souls, the backup group for singer Nat King Cole, when she met Joe in the early 1960s. Joe Zito was a composer and conductor for Cole. They married in 1964.

Giants' Lincecum wins Cy Young Award

Henry Schulman - San Francisco Chronicle (SFGate)
After 41 years, the National League Cy Young Award has returned to San Francisco.

Tim Lincecum this morning became the second San Francisco Giant to win baseball's most coveted pitching honor and the first since Mike McCormick in 1967.

In balloting announced by the Baseball Writers Association of America, Lincecum won in a landslide. He garnered 23 of 32 first-place votes, seven second-place votes and one third-place vote, for a total of 137 points.

Brandon Webb of Arizona finished second with four first-place votes and 73 points. The Mets' Johan Santana was third with four first-place votes and 55 points.

CC Sabathia of Milwaukee got the final first-place vote but finished fifth behind Brad Lidge, the Philadelphia closer.

One writer, Chris DeLuca of the Chicago Sun-Times, did not name Lincecum on his ballot. His three choices were Webb first, Lidge second, Santana third.

Thirty-two members of the BBWAA, two from each National League city, cast ballots after the final game of the regular season but before the playoffs. Five points were awarded for each first-place vote, three for second place and one for third place.

With his small frame and whip-like delivery fooling and overpowering hitters at an astounding rate, Lincecum captured an award that eluded some of the Giants' greatest pitchers, including Juan Marichal and Jason Schmidt. Gaylord Perry won in 1972 as a Cleveland Indian and in 1978 as a San Diego Padre. The award was first given in 1956.

In his first full big-league season, Lincecum threw 227 innings over 33 starts and one relief appearance. He went 18-5 with a 2.62 ERA and led the majors with 265 strikeouts.

In the National League, only Santana had a better ERA (2.53). Only Santana (2341/3) and Cole Hamels (2271/3) had more innings.

The landslide surprised Lincecum, who was sitting on his sofa at home in San Francisco watching NFL highlights on TV when he got the call saying he won.

"I thought it was going to be a lot closer," he said. "I definitely don't want to say I had it in the bag. I was thinking somebody else would have it, Johan Santana, CC or Webb. Those guys are all great players. I think they're all three Cy Young winners previously. I figured they had a better shot, or as good a shot as I did."

Lincecum often sounded nonchalant about his Cy Young chances, but teammate Brian Wilson revealed the thought had crossed both of their minds as early as spring training.

"Tim and I made some goals for each other, and the Cy happened to be just one of the many we set," the closer said. "We joked around about both winning the award and calling it the 'Cys Youngs.' I can almost assure you that out of all the candidates, not one of them started their spring training off with winning that award in mind.

"Every start that Tim had, he had an agenda. As outlandish as it seems, focusing on that goal subsequently helped him focus on success and achievement."

Wilson was in a dentist chair when Lincecum phoned to say he had won.

"I was screaming when he told me," Wilson said in an e-mail. "I'm not sure if that was a reaction to the drill cutting into my gums because of my overaggressive fist pumping I was displaying on the chair. Like I said before, I knew it was his when he took the mound every start."

Lincecum's other teammates were thrilled as well.

"That's great, man. Wow," catcher Bengie Molina said when told of Lincecum's win. "He pitched so great. I'm so happy for him. "I'm hoping he enjoys it. I know it's an individual award, but looking back and seeing year we had as team, for him to come out with Cy Young is amazing. It's unbelievable."

Lincecum is the second Cy Young winner in four seasons that Molina has caught. The other was the Angels' Bartolo Colon in 2005. Molina also caught Roy Halladay of Toronto when he finished third in 2006.

Reliever Jack Taschner called Lincecum "a phenomenal pitching talent and a great kid and great worker."

Although Lincecum's win did not surprise him, Taschner said, "The landslide surprised me because there were so many good pitchers in the NL this year. Usually when you're on the West Coast, East Coast guys don't get to see West Coast pitchers. Obviously the word got out. You only had to see him once to see how special he is.

"This is great for him and great for the organization. It's a great start to his career. He's only two years in."

Lincecum, an All-Star at 24, became a Cy Young favorite late in the season when Webb faltered in three consecutive starts, including two against division-rival Los Angeles. However, Webb finished strongly and padded his win total, finishing with four more than Lincecum.

Santana went 9-0 over the final three months of the season and captured the ERA title to burnish his credentials for the award. Sabathia went 11-2 with a 1.65 ERA and with three shutouts in 17 starts for the Brewers after his acquisition from Cleveland on July 7.

Giants ink first baseman Phelps

Former Jay signs Minor League deal with Spring Training invite

Chris Haft - MLB.com
Adding potential depth Monday, the Giants signed first baseman Josh Phelps to a Minor League contract with an invitation to big league Spring Training.

Phelps, 30, owns a .273 batting average with 64 home runs and 244 RBIs in 465 games spanning eight Major League seasons. He also has caught 12 games in the Majors and diversified himself further by playing outfield this year.

"He expanded himself as a player," said Phelps' agent, Steve Canter.

A right-handed batter, Phelps spent most of 2008 with St. Louis' Triple-A Memphis affiliate, batting .291 with 31 homers and 97 RBIs. He also hit .265 in 19 games for the Cardinals, who cast him into free agency by designating him for assignment.

"We had interest from several clubs, but we felt the Giants were the best fit," Canter said.

Phelps, 30, enjoyed his most productive span from 2002-04, when he hit 52 home runs, mostly for Toronto. He hit .309 with 15 homers and 58 RBIs in 74 games for the Blue Jays in 2002 and followed that with a .268 average, 20 homers and 66 RBIs with Toronto in 2003.

Although Phelps isn't the premier big bat the Giants seek, he could help them off the bench. He has hit .297 lifetime against left-handed pitchers, exceeding the .249 average the Giants recorded off lefties in 2008.

Ex-Marlins reliever Miller joins Giants

Joe Frisaro - MLB.com
Justin Miller, who spent the past two seasons working out of the Marlins bullpen, has reached agreement on a Minor League contract with the Giants.

According to an industry source, the 31-year-old right-hander will be a non-roster Spring Training invitee with the Giants.

After being used heavily in the first half, in both long relief and setup situations, Miller was placed on the disabled list with right elbow inflammation on July 5.

Miller was designated for assignment on Aug. 15.

In 46 games for Florida this past season, Miller was 4-2 with a 4.24 ERA. He threw 46 2/3 innings, striking out 43 and walking 20.

Miller joined the Marlins in 2007 and made 62 appearances, posting a 5-0 record with a 3.65 ERA.

Miller broke in with the Blue Jays in 2002. Early in his career, he was a starting pitcher.

The veteran has appeared in 153 games, including 33 starts.