Giants reel in Rowand -- and his Gold Glove -- to patrol center
CBSSports.com staff and wire reports
SAN FRANCISCO -- Aaron Rowand wanted some longterm stability, and so did the San Francisco Giants.
Rowand agreed to a $60 million, five-year contract with the Giants on Wednesday, giving the club a center fielder without having to trade pitchers Matt Cain or Tim Lincecum.
The 30-year-old Rowand is expected to bat fifth for San Francisco after spending the last two seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies. Before that, he helped the Chicago White Sox win the 2005 World Series.
"Bottom line, I wanted to get in a spot where I would be longterm," said Rowand, who noted he weighed four or five similar multiyear offers. "In this day of free agency, that's not commonplace. That's really the thing I was looking forward to most."
He is coming off his best season yet, earning his first Gold Glove award and All-Star selection while helping the Phillies to the NL East title. Rowand batted .309 with 27 home runs and career bests of 89 RBI, 105 runs, 189 hits, 45 doubles in 161 games.
"It sounds good," Giants outfielder Randy Winn said. "Aaron's a guy who's won a Gold Glove and plays great defense in center field, and he had a great offensive year last year. I'm excited."
General manager Brian Sabean repeatedly said he hoped to hold onto Cain and Lincecum, but being a last-place team it was his responsibility to be open-minded and listen.
"With this move, we will no longer listen to any offers for Cain and Lincecum," Sabean said. "We know the value of both individuals believe me, maybe more so now that we've gone through this exercise. They might be the hottest two names in baseball."
While manager Bruce Bochy had said Rajai Davis would get a chance to earn the job come spring training, Rowand was brought in to provide a consistent, hard-nosed presence in that position. That means Dave Roberts likely will shift from center to left field to replace departed home run king Barry Bonds, Randy Winn will stay put in right while Davis and some of the other young outfielders share time in a reserve role. That is, if the Giants don't try to deal them -- something Sabean said is a possibility.
Bochy recently met with Rowand during a trip to Las Vegas, where the outfielder lives during the offseason.
"I said I wanted to change the culture of the clubhouse and get back to the warrior mentality and play the game hard for nine innings," Bochy said. "Aaron's the type of player who can do that. He's the type of player who can hold everyone accountable."
The Giants haven't reached the playoffs since 2003. They re-signed 11-time Gold Glove shortstop Omar Vizquel last month, but still have a hole to fill at third and possibly first. If the Giants don't bring back Pedro Feliz at third, Kevin Frandsen or Rich Aurilia might wind up playing that spot.
Sabean said San Francisco will speak to Feliz soon, but the team doesn't plan to give him a three-year deal.
