Henry Schulman
SFGate/The Splash blog/San Francisco Chronicle
UPDATE: A Giants spokesman just told me DeRosa was in San Francisco today for his physical, which he passed. The deal is done and will be announced tomorrow.
Doesn't look like an Uribe announcement is imminent.
If my friends Ken Rosenthal at Foxsports.com and Jayson Stark at ESPN are correct -- and they usually are -- the Giants have reached agreement with free-agent infielder Mark DeRosa on a two-year deal worth $12 million, which would be the team's biggest move this winter to bolster the offense.
DeRosa, who turns 35 in February, is an interesting case. He can play any infield position except short and the outfield. He seems to be the type of complementary offensive player the Giants used to acquire to fill out a lineup for Barry Bonds.
In truth, that is the only kind of player available in free agency now aside from Matt Holliday and Jason Bay, who can be considered offensive "difference-makers." If you believe the reports, one (Holliday) is demanding too much money and the other (Bay) doesn't want to play in San Francisco.
Trading for that kind of hitter would require the Giants to weaken its biggest asset, its pitching, so the strategy appears to be adding what GM Brian Sabean likes to call "professional hitters" to the lineup in hopes they and perhaps a burgeoning prospect such as Buster Posey will help score enough runs to support the pitching.
I'm sure the Giants would have loved to get Nick Johnson and his .400 on-base percentage. DeRosa is not that kind of hitter. But he does have a career .343 OBP, which is not bad by current Giants standards, and hit 23 home runs with 78 RBIs for Cleveland and St. Louis last season.
He hurt his wrist shortly after he was traded to the Cardinals in July and had surgery after the season. That makes the Giants' physical, which reportedly occurred today, more than a formality.
I'm not sure what a DeRosa signing would mean for talks with Juan Uribe. Conceivably, the Giants could sign both. DeRosa could play some games in left field with Uribe at third and Pablo Sandoval at first. Or DeRosa could play third or first with Sandoval at the other corner, Uribe at short and Edgar Renteria on the bench.
In any case, the dual signings would give manager Bruce Bochy more flexibility.
Still on the docket for the Giants: a catcher, a fifth starter and some relief help. And who knows? Maybe Bay has balked himself out of consideration in Boston and New York and might decide San Francisco and the Giants' money -- if they're willing to spend it -- don't look so bad after all.
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