The San Francisco Giants avoided arbitration with newly acquired outfielder Angel Pagan on Monday as both sides have agreed upon a one-year, $4.85 million deal according to the Associated Press's Janie McCauley.
Pagan, 30, batted .262 with seven home runs and 56 RBIs last season, taking over in center field after Carlos Beltran headed for the Giants midseason. His numbers were down from his 2010 posting of .290 BA, 11 hr and 69 RBI, but his switch-hitting abilities coupled with his speed make him a nice candidate for the lead-off spot the Giants have so desperately needed.
Pagan's deal also includes $150,000 in performance bonuses: $50,000 each for reaching plate appearance benchmarks of 550, 600 and 650 respectfully. Still, Giants beat writer Andrew Baggarly had another way to look at the signing of Pagan:
Put another way, Pagan will get nearly a third of what Aaron Rowand will receive for not showing up for work every day.
— Andrew Baggarly (@extrabaggs) January 17, 2012
The Giants still have six arbitration eligible players left to deal with, including Tim Lincecum, so getting Pagan out of the way is at least one less thing to worry about for San Francisco. Lincecum and the Giants hit the negotiation table on Tuesday as both sides try to hash out some numbers in what should be a historic arbitration case for the two-time Cy Young award winner.
For more on the Giants, head over to McCovey Chronicles.