The Giants have apparently signed Jeremy Affeldt to a two-year deal for $8 million. What's not to like?
• They get one of the best free agent relievers on the market for a contract below the typical length for high-end relievers. Two years is nothing for a quality relief pitcher, not when most get three years and some (like
Scott Linebrink last year, who isn't close to Affeldt in terms of stuff) get four. If Affeldt gets hurt, or regresses horribly, the commitment is short. It's absolute sanity.
• They already have a nominal closer in
Brian Wilson. Wilson is nothing special as closers go -- he has a big fastball but doesn't miss a ton of bats and pitches around guys as if he was throwing 10 mph slower -- but he's earned the capital-C Closer mantle, meaning Affeldt, who is now the best reliever on the Giants' staff, can work in the seventh and eighth innings and not be limited to a three-out role in the ninth. If Wilson should lose the closer job at some point due to injury or ineffectiveness, the Giants can just slide Affeldt into his place.
• Affeldt's only flaw last year was his slight tendency to give up the long ball -- and I'm picking nits with that criticism -- and now he's moving to one of the worst home run parks, in AT&T Park. He's pitched in home run environments before, giving up seven homers in more than 80 innings with Colorado, and his ground ball rate last year marked a new career high. Now he's moving to an environment that further suppresses fly balls, so whether it was bad luck or bad pitch selection that led to his high home run rate (more than one of every seven fly balls he gave up last year left the park), it should come down dramatically in 2009-2010.
• Other than late-season add
Sergio Romo, no one scheduled to be in the Giants' pen this year has even average control; now Affeldt adds another strike-thrower. They didn't have a lefty-killer in the pen -- I know
Alex Hinshaw has a good arm, but he has maybe 40 command on a 20-80 scale -- and now they have one in Affeldt whom the manager doesn't have to pull when a right-handed hitter approaches the plate.
• And best of all, this signing doesn't cost the Giants a draft pick, as Affeldt was a Type B free agent. Cincinnati gets a compensatory pick between the first and second rounds, but the Giants lose nothing.
Keith Law
