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!