A bit of news that might have been drowned out in the roar of trade rumors: the Giants offered Pedro Feliz arbitration. This means the team will get draft-pick compensation if another team signs Pedro. It also means Pedro can accept arbitration and force the Giants to offer him a one-year contract for 2008 at what would likely be a nice raise from his $5 million 2007 salary.
The latter situation rarely happens. Greg Maddux dropped it on the Braves a few years back, but that’s the only example I can come up with. If Feliz accepts, we’ll know that his demands for a multi-year contract fell on deaf ears around the league.
I read it this way: Sabean is confident Feliz will sign elsewhere and wants the draft pick. The risk of Pedro pulling a Maddux doesn’t outweigh the modest reward of the draft pick, because Sabean isn’t totally confident he can land a third baseman in a trade of his liking, be it Miguel Cabrera, Miguel Tejada, or Edwin Encarnacion. Nor, I suspect is he ready to enter 2008 with Kevin Frandsen as the third baseman. (A sentiment shared by our regular reader and commenter, Boof.)
In that chain of events, one more year of Feliz wouldn’t be a disaster. There’s now the possibility that Sabean trades for a third baseman and Feliz accepts the offer. But that seems extremely unlikely. He would return as the odd man out, benched or shifted around the diamond, getting the daily stank eye from club officials who resent his presence. He’d probably prefer signing a one-year deal with another club that wants him as the everyday third baseman.
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3 P.M. UPDATE: A few deals today. Here they are, bullet-point-style, with the significance (if any) to the Giants:
* Nats get bad boy Elijah Dukes from Tampa Bay for a minor-league lefty hurler. Significance: Once thought to be a great trade match with the Giants, Tampa Bay has now traded two of its surplus outfielders for pitching. Giants will have to look elsewhere.
* Arizona trades Carlos Quentin to Chisox. Significance: Quentin stalled out last year, perhaps due to injury, but he wasn’t a big part of the D-Backs 2008 plan anyway. In exchange they take a chance on Chris Carter, a hulking low-minors slugger who might be better suited to DH.
* Padres close to extension for Jake Peavy. Significance: Peavy’s presence through 2012 guarantees at least 15 more shutouts of the Giants.
* Andy Pettitte will return to the Bronx. Significance: If this makes the Yanks less eager to chase Johan Santana or other starting pitchers, it means a little less demand for the Giants’ only trading strength. But I don’t think it’ll stop them one bit.
