And the first big free agent signing is….
Update: According to Mark Sheldon of mlb.com (click here for the post), the contract is worth $8 million.
OK, many wouldn’t classify it as “big”, but the San Francisco Giants made the first free agent splash, signing Jeremy Affeldt to a 2-year contract according to Henry Schulman of The San Francisco Chronicle (click here for the article). With Brian Wilson in place, Affeldt is not likely to get many save opportunities, so despite his solid 3.33 ERA last season he will have little fantasy impact next season.
Where his importance sits is his ability to help get from the quality starting pitchers the Giants have to Wilson in the ninth inning. If he can fill that hole, it adds some value to guys like Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez and others, as they will have a better opportunity to earn W’s instead of watching the bullpen blow the leads for them.
This is obviously just the first of many free agent signings and it really is interesting that the Giants fired the first bullet. Now, let’s just wait and see what comes next.
going into redlegs’ camp last spring , affeldt expressed a desire to audition for a starting position .
has he given up such aspirations for 2009 ?
I don’t know for sure, but I wouldn’t think so. Given the Giants rotation already has Zito, Lincecum, Cain, Sanchez & Lowry set, it would seem that SF wouldn’t have been an ideal situation if he was looking for starts.