"The Bat" Returns on One-Year Deal

Giants fans who were waiting to see if Pat Burrell would follow Juan Uribe out of town, or stay put with Aubrey Huff and take the hometown discount, got their answer sooner than expected. The Giants announced a one-year pact with 34 year-old left fielder Wednesday evening, bringing Burrell's right-handed bat back to the roster for 2011.

He'll be making a fraction of the $9 million he made from Tampa Bay last season, I'm thinking closer to the $3-4 million range, and because it's a one year "discounted deal" as Baggs calls it, it's really tough to complain. If the Giants didn't get Burrell when they did last year, it's arguable that they don't even make the playoffs, let alone win the Series, so if you don't think this guy was big for this team, check again. He faded big time in the World Series, and couldn't hit the broadside of a barn, but the guy came up with big hit after big hit in the second half and early October. Burrell hit .266 with 18 HR, 55 RBI and a .876 OPS after arriving in San Francisco in early June, and he wasn't even a full-timer until July. Basically, he put those numbers up in half a season (289 at-bats) and you stretch that out to 400-500 at-bats like he'll get in 2011 if he's healthy, and you get some pretty nice numbers. Now, he may not even be starting come April, and could be very well be the team's fourth outfielder, or at least sharing some at-bats with Mark DeRosa. I don't think Sabean is done, and will try and add at least one more bat to this lineup somewhere. This market is deep with first basemen still, and if Sabean adds somebody at there, it could push Huff to left. Again though, I'm sure Burrell and the Giants talked about this and have some sort of arrangement in mind either way. Whether he's a part-timer, or getting full-time at-bats, your not going to get much more bang for your buck as far as power hitters go in this free-agent market.

As Hank Schulman wrote Wednesday night after the deal, this signing really opens the door for Sabean, and come Thursday night after the non-tender deadline, the Giants should have all kinds of options. They're entering the meat of the offseason in very good shape with a lot of work done already. They still have to hammer out deals with their own arbitrationers like Cody Ross, Jonathan Sanchez, Andres Torres, Javier Lopez and Santiago Casilla, but outside of that, I like where things are headed. Sabean could still add a first basemen, or a left-fielder, and I'm almost certain he'll bring in another, more defensive-minded shortstop to caddy Tejada. He also could do nothing at all and they'd be in fine shape to start the year (remember, Brandon Belt isn't too far away).

*NOTES: Burrell's deal apparently guarantees him just $1 Million, plus incentives, in 2011, and that makes this deal even more of a no-brainer (I was hoping for no higher than $3M). I mean, that's cheap for a veteran 5th outfielder or backup catcher, let-alone a guy who could start in left and hit 30 home runs for you. As I said in the post, your not going to get more bang for your buck than what Sabean just got with Burrell... Also just getting news that Adam Dunn is signing with the White Sox to a 4 year, $56 million deal. Makes a lot of sense for both, Dunn's a very AL-type player and should thrive in Chicago. The Sox will definitely be getting their money's worth if you ask me though, as Dunn's a machine and a sure thing for 40 HR/100 RBI each year, and you just don't find many of those guys around these days.