Giants Agree to Sign Aubrey Huff

By Ben Nicholson-Smith [January 10 at 10:16pm CST]
from: Major League Trade Rumors.com

The Giants agreed to sign Aubrey Huff to a one-year $3MM deal, according to Dennis O'Donnell of CBS5 in San Francisco. The deal, O'Donnell says via e-mail, is pending a physical.

Huff split his time between first base and DH last year and though he has played hundreds of major league games at third, he figures to play first for the Giants. Pablo Sandoval, Mark DeRosa and Juan Uribe are all in the mix for time at the corner infield positions, so Bruce Bochy will have lots of options.

Huff, 33, hit .241/.310/.384 in 2009. He will presumably pick up some at bats from Travis Ishikawa, who is seven years younger than Huff and plays better defense. Ishikawa hit .261/.329/.387 last year in 113 games at first base, so he was more productive than Huff at the plate, too.

As MLBTR's Mike Axisa points out on River Ave. Blues, the move appears to lessen the chances that Johnny Damon ends up in San Francisco. The Braves and Yankees could still be fits for Damon, but the Yanks' interest likely depends on Damon's willingness to lower his demands. This also limits the market for Adam LaRoche; the Mets and Orioles have openings at first, but few other teams do.

2000	23	TBD	AL	39	129	122	12	35	7	0	4	14	0	0	5	18	.287	.318	.443	.760	91	54	6	1	0	1	1	5
2001	24	TBD	AL	111	434	411	42	102	25	1	8	45	1	3	23	72	.248	.288	.372	.660	74	153	18	0	0	0	2	5D3
2002	25	TBD	AL	113	494	454	67	142	25	0	23	59	4	1	37	55	.313	.364	.520	.884	135	236	17	1	0	2	7	D35
2003	26	TBD	AL	162	706	636	91	198	47	3	34	107	2	3	53	80	.311	.367	.555	.922	145	353	19	8	0	9	17	9D3/5	MVP-24
2004	27	TBD	AL	157	667	600	92	178	27	2	29	104	5	1	56	74	.297	.360	.493	.853	124	296	9	6	0	5	6	53D/79
2005	28	TBD	AL	154	636	575	70	150	26	2	22	92	8	7	49	88	.261	.321	.428	.749	98	246	12	5	0	7	13	9D3/5
2006	29	TOT	MLB	131	517	454	57	121	25	2	21	66	0	0	50	64	.267	.344	.469	.813	108	213	11	7	0	6	6	59/3D
2006	29	TBD	AL	63	256	230	26	65	15	1	8	28	0	0	24	25	.283	.348	.461	.809	108	106	4	0	0	2	3	5/D
2006	29	HOU	NL	68	261	224	31	56	10	1	13	38	0	0	26	39	.250	.341	.478	.819	107	107	7	7	0	4	3	95/3
2007	30	BAL	AL	151	603	550	68	154	34	5	15	72	1	1	48	87	.280	.337	.442	.778	103	243	13	1	0	4	2	D35
2008	31	BAL	AL	154	661	598	96	182	48	2	32	108	4	0	53	89	.304	.360	.552	.912	137	330	9	3	0	7	7	D53	MVP-16,SS
2009	32	TOT	AL	150	597	536	59	129	30	1	15	85	0	6	51	87	.241	.310	.384	.694	81	206	15	5	0	5	7	3D
2009	32	BAL	AL	110	480	430	51	109	24	1	13	72	0	6	41	74	.253	.321	.405	.725	90	174	12	4	0	5	7	3D
2009	32	DET	AL	40	117	106	8	20	6	0	2	13	0	0	10	13	.189	.265	.302	.567	47	32	3	1	0	0	0	D
10 Seasons				1322	5444	4936	654	1391	294	18	203	752	25	22	425	714	.282	.340	.472	.812	113	2330	129	37	0	46	68