Mark one more case off the arbitration list — the Giants have agreed to a 1-year deal worth $4,437,500 with closer Brian Wilson. The near $4.5M that Wilson agreed to is the midpoint between the Giants offer of $4M and the $4,875,000 that Wilson filed for. Wilson’s salary for 2010 represents a $4M raise over his 2009 salary of $480,000. Wilson saw almost every facet of his game improve in ’09. He posted a FIP of 2.50, boosted his K/9 to 10.33, and saw his BB/9 decline to 3.36 after posting a BB/9 of 4.04 in ’08. The Giants are still working on their final arbitration case — Tim Lincecum.
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In other news, the Giants have signed RHP Byung-Hyun Kim and LHP Horacio Ramirez. Giants fans will remember Kim from his years with the Diamondbacks. From 2001-2003 Kim was one of the better relievers in baseball. Over those three years he was worth an average of 3 wins per season.
Numbers from Sean Smith’s WAR Database.
As you can see, post-2003 Kim has struggled. He pitched mostly in the minors in ’04 for the Red Sox. He pitched the next two years in Colorado and in ’07 he spent time with the Rockies, Diamondbacks, and the Marlins. In 2008 he signed a minor league contract with the Pirates but was cut after a disappointing Spring Training. If he makes the team it will be in a bullpen role — something he’s better suited for than starting. Kim’s career path has been bumpy over the last few years and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him spend most of his year in Fresno. It’s hard to believe that Kim is only 31-years-old since it feels like he’s been around forever.
As for the other pitcher, Horacio Ramirez, he stinks. He’s shown some slight groundball tendencies over his career but that’s about all I can say. He’ll be injury depth in AAA.