Skip to main content

Ryan Vogelsong Signs 2-year Extension

What has been an extremely quiet last couple of weeks in the Giants world, they finally made some headlines as they retained their right-handed breakout star from 2011, Ryan Vogelsong for 2 more seasons with a third year option.

Seeing as the Pagan and Cabrera deals were each trades, this is by far the best signing the Giants have gotten done this winter, as they will have Vogelsong's services for the 2012 and 2013 season, for less than $4.5 million per. Now if he puts up numbers close to the ones he did last season, I'm not expecting a sub-2 era again, but 12-15 wins and a 3.50'ish era would be just fine by me as long as he keeps that WHIP under 1.30 and strikes out his usual 5-7 batters per game. The deal is such a good deal when you look around the league and see decent level mid-relievers making 4 million per season, and the Giants got a top-end starter, when on, for that price. Certainly the coup of the offseason thus far by Mr. Sabean, even though it was just a signing of one of their own players. Vogey burst onto the scene with a huge 2011 going 13-7 with a 2.71 era and a 1.25 WHIP. He also struck out 139 batters in just over 170 innings of work (remember, he wasn't put into the rotation until early May. Spread that out an extra month and you have 4-5 more starts and easily 150 K's and probably 15 wins, which in itself is a very good bench mark for a starting pitcher. Again though, Giants fan's shouldn't be surprised if his numbers dip a little bit in 2012, as the league has had a chance to adjust to him. Although still rock-solid (3.16 era in 2nd half), his post all-star numbers were a little down, or in some cases up, from before the break, so his start to 2012 will definitely be something to keep an eye on.

Now if only the Giants could get so lucky with Matt Cain and Timmy Lincecum. Cain is inked through 2012, but is free to sign anywhere he wants after the season, which is a scary thought, and Timmy is in the same position, just he won't be freed up until after 2013, giving the Giants an extra year to negotiate should they keep at a stand-still. Right now, I think the Giants really should be focusing on what the future is with Cain. I mentioned earlier in the offseason that giving someone like Edwin Jackson a 2-3 year deal wouldn't be so bad, giving the team insurance in case Cain were to bolt after the season, while ultimately strengthening the pitching staff. Think of a 2012 rotation with Lincecum-Cain-Bumgarner-Vogelsong-Jackson. A guy who'd be a #2 or 3 on a lot of teams would be this teams 5 and push Zito to the bench (or off the roster should he bomb in Scottsdale). Either way, if they don't think they're going to be able to get both Timmy and Matty signed (which I don't believe should be the case since this team draws 3.5 million fans per season and is one of the largest markets in all of sports), then they need to have a plan B. As much as I like Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum, to me, is the present and the future of this franchise. He's probably going to age like Pedro Martinez and continue to be effective with that change-fastball combo well into his 30's, plus he's a freakish athlete (hence "The Freak") so no I'm not worried about Tim Lincecum breaking down when he gets into his 30's.

Speaking of Tim, the Giants do have some arbitration cases that have a deadline quickly approaching and have to figure out salary numbers for key players like Pablo Sandoval, Nate Schierholtz and Sergio Romo. There's no chance the Giants can lose any of these guys, but these processes can sometimes cause rifts between players and organizations if they have to go in front of an arbiter. I don't think the deadline is until early February, but the earlier you get 'em signed, the better in my opinion!

Comments

Anonymous said…
Great signing! Now get Lincecum and Cain done!
J-Bill said…
Yes, I agree, very good signing. He really earned it with the season he had, and he's 33 but it's not like he's thrown a whole lot of innings in his career. Well maybe in the minors, but he looks like he's a good bet for another 2 good years. He wasn't as good in the 2nd half as he was in the first, but he also didn't get nearly as much run support, otherwise he probably should have won at least 15 games.
Anonymous said…
Do you mind if I quote a couple of your articles or blog posts as long as
I provide credit and sources back to your
webpage: http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17901010&postID=8335831477642385900.
Please let me know if this is acceptable to you. Thank you

My website ... How to Golf
Also see my webpage > How to Golf

Popular posts from this blog

WORLD SERIES: Giants Move Up 2-0 on Texas

PreGame After taking game one in a surprising slug-fest , the Giants look to go up 2-0 on the Rangers in the World Series on Thursday night. The Giants are sending out Matt Cain, a guy who I'm sure every Giants' fan is pretty confident in. He'll be a opposed by C.J. Wilson, who's in his first year as a full-time starter, but has been brilliant in the role. He did struggle his last time out though, so hopefully the Giants can get to him early and get into his head a bit. I'm going to do something I've never done here on this unique occasion, and sort of do an in-game post. updating this post every time I feel I have something to add. So go Giants, and be sure to check back throughout the game, and after, to vent or whatever! As long as Matt Cain keeps rolling, and the Giants keep coming up with those clutch 2-out hits, we should be OK. Texas has that high-powered offense that can score in a hurry, as we saw last night, so the Giants cannot let down and have to t

Giants Notes: Lincecum Signs, Ross to Boston

Well, even though I touched on it a little bit in our last post, I haven't really had a chance to get my thoughts out on the new Lincecum deal since he and the Giants agreed earlier in the week. Also, on the other end of things, the Giants missed out on shoring up their outfield by letting Cody Ross sign in Boston for only $3 million in 2012. First off, obviously, wanted to talk a bit about Lincecum. I've already said here that I didn't expect him to sign a long-term deal that takes him through free agency, but it doesn't mean he wants to leave San Francisco like everyone is suspecting. I mean, if I were Lincecum, I'd probably do the same thing, even if I planned on eventually signing with the Giants long-term. Why take a chance at mitigating your value to just sign a deal? Granted, a 5 year, $100 million deal isn't anything to sneeze at, in this market, if he were a free agent, Lincecum could probably easily command a 8 year, $200 million deal. If he could get

Giants Still Need Infield Help

On Saturday, the Giants finalized a 2 year contract extension with Freddy Sanchez, who they acquired in July for Tim Alderson. The new deal for Sanchez will pay him 12 million over the next 2 seasons instead of 8.5 million for just 2010, which was his option for 2010. I've voiced my disappointment in Sanchez a few times here since the Giants dealt for him over the summer. He wasn't able to stay on the field full time to help this club with their run at the NL Wild Card, and even when he was in there, he didn't seem to make much of an impact in th e lineup. Now, I wasn't necessarily hoping the Giants would cut ties with Sanchez (they probably would have had to pay 4 million or so to buy him out), just didn't think he was worth upwards of 10 million dollars, and would have liked to see the Giants pursue someone like Orlando Hudson with that money. The Giants already have an infielder who's being paid about 3-4 times what his play over the last 2 seasons would indi