Giants Search For Pitching

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The Giants entered last offseason believing that the one area in which they were already secure was the starting rotation.

This winter, a starting pitcher is atop general manager Brian Sabean's shopping list.

"No matter how you slot it [in the rotation], it's going to have to be somebody who can give you innings, make 32-plus starts at least, 200-plus innings, somebody with experience and hopefully somebody with a winning track record," said Sabean. "That's a lot of boxes to check off."

Unfortunately for Sabean and the Giants, many other teams are seeking just the same thing, and the free-agent shelves aren't exactly stocked full of those types of pitchers. A.J. Burnett headlines the list, with the likes of Kevin Millwood, Matt Morris, Jarrod Washburn, Paul Byrd and Jeff Weaver among the other big names.

With the free-agent market relatively thin for starting pitchers, the Giants know the prices for those players could inflate considerably, and Sabean isn't prepared to get into a bidding war.

"You don't want to run the risk of a bad contract per se because of your need," said Sabean. "Our dilemma is we're not going to overpay for the sake of need, and the last thing you need is to enter into a multiyear contract for too much money or too many years. You're going to have to be prepared to say no. So you're going to have to have some fallback positions."

Those fallbacks include trading for an arbitration-eligible player that the current team can't afford or waiting for the new group of free agents that will emerge Dec. 20 when clubs must tender contracts to their existing players or have them become available to all teams.

Also high on Sabean's to-do list is re-signing lefty reliever Scott Eyre, who had a career year in 2005 and became one of the most reliable arms in the San Francisco bullpen. The Giants have offered Eyre a two-year deal with an option for a third year, but reports say Eyre's agent wants to test the market, which opens fully to all teams on Friday.

If Eyre chooses to sign elsewhere, Sabean plans to obtain another reliever, "probably from the market," he said. The Giants won't concern themselves with their other two free agents, first baseman J.T. Snow and right-hander Brett Tomko, until they've sorted out what other alternatives they might have to re-signing one or both of them.

Snow, who in 2005 was the second-longest tenured Giants player after Barry Bonds, may very well have played his last games in a San Francisco uniform, depending on how the Giants do in their pursuit of a much-desired left-handed hitter.

"In a perfect world, we would like to get some more offense, and thus we're going to try to decide what we're going to first do with first base," said Sabean, noting that the club plans to have Pedro Feliz be the everyday third baseman, relegating Edgardo Alfonzo to "role player" status, fighting for playing time at second and third.

The Giants are targeting a first baseman or first baseman/outfielder for their offensive boost, and depending on how much playing time that player and 26-year-old first baseman Lance Niekro are slated to receive, there likely would be no room for Snow and his veteran leadership to return.

Ideally, the Giants would like to be methodical in their dealings this offseason, carefully weighing the free agents vs. the trade market and the possible non-tendered group of players, but Sabean knows he may not have that luxury.

"There are so few names that I think we would be interested [in] or a lot of other clubs could be interested [as well] that you may have to act as things develop," he said. "I would like to be more diligent, to hold out for the right situation, but you're going to have to be prepared to step up and make a decision, and we'll do that, too."

Chris Shuttlesworth is an editorial producer for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Good to hear Sabean isn't going to go overboard on one of those starters. I don't want Burnett but I wouldn't mind having Millwood or Washburn. Millwood isn't the type of guy to sign a long term deal so that's fine by me. Washburn is a solid lefty and had a great year in 05 and brings another lefty to join Schmidt, Cain and Lowry. I would love for Eyre to come back but it probably won't work out with so many teams looking at him that are willing to outbid the Giants. We need to dump Alfonzo's salary if he isn't going to be a starter whether it be a trade or something else.

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I just realized that Scott Boras represents both Washburn and Millwood