San Francisco Giants GM Brian Sabean hasn't been shy about his offseason plans:
San Francisco Giants Re-Sign Javier Lopez, Pick Up Option On Jeremy Affeldt
“We can’t just pull players or figures from out of the air,” Sabean said. “We have to have a specific budget, because our relative budget isn’t going to explode from year to year or be able to go up with one real significant acquisition. We know we’re going to have to spread money through the roster.“And spread they have, retaining their left-handed setup combo from the past two seasons. Per Hank Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle, Sabean and the Giants re-signed Javier Lopez to a two-year, $8.5 million dollar contract, and they exercised Jeremy Affeldt’s $5 million dollar option for 2012.
The spread-the-payroll philosophy isn't new for Sabean, who famously said that the Giants couldn't go after Vladimir Guerrero in 2004 because that would leave them without Dustan Mohr and Brett Tomko, among others. And for 2012, the Giants have have already downplayed any interest in top offensive players like Prince Fielder and Jose Reyes, and apparently it was because that would leave them without the ability to commit almost $10 million to a pair of left-handed relievers.
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