The Giants have made quite a few deals today — Melky Cabrera, Nate Schierholtz, Santiago Casilla have all signed deals — as the team works it’s way through the arbitration process. The most exciting deal today, by far, is the three year deal that Pablo Sandoval has agreed to.
From the Giants twitter feed:
Per Andrew Baggarly, the contract breaks down as follows: $3.5M in 2012, $5.7M in 2013, and $8.25 in 2014. Remember, the Giants had control of Sandoval over the next three years regardless of what happened today, but this looks like an astute move to buy out his remaining arbitration years. The arbitration system is based on short-term rewards. And, as we saw earlier, a player like Melky Cabrera can easily earn $6M per year by having a breakout year. So, in that sense, the Giants look to get Sandoval for the next three years at pretty modest rates.
The Giants are obviously banking on the 25-year-old Sandoval staying in shape and building upon his 2011, a year in which he batted an outstanding .315/.357/.552 while displaying improved defense at third base. By Weighted Runs Created Plus (wRC+), Sandoval was approximately 40% better than your league average hitter last season — an outstanding figure when you pair it with improved conditioning and defense.
Ideally, I would have loved to have bought out a year (or two) of Sandoval’s free agent years in this deal, but all things considered, it’s a very nice move for the Giants.
Other deals from today:
- Melky Cabrera avoids arbitration and agrees to a one-year, $6M contract.
- Santiago Casilla avoids arbitration and agrees to a one-year, $2.2M contract.
- Nate Schierholtz avoids arbitration and agrees to a one-year, $1.3M contract.
- Angel Pagan avoids arbitration and agrees to a one-year, $4.85M contract.
The Giants have yet to reach a deal with Tim Lincecum.
