Vizquel signs three-year deal with Giants
Posted: Sunday November 14, 2004 2:25PM; Updated: Sunday November 14, 2004 2:35PM
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Omar Vizquel batted .291 last season for the Indians.
David Maxwell/Getty Images
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</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Venezuelan free agent shortstop
Omar Vizquel has agreed to terms on a $12.25 million, three-year contract with the
San Francisco Giants, a person close to the negotiations told The Associated Press on Sunday on condition of anonymity.
Vizquel, a nine-time Gold Glove winner, becomes the first of 207 free agents to join a new team, and the second to sign overall after Texas reliever
Doug Brocail returned to the Rangers on Friday on a $1 million, one-year deal.
The 37-year-old Vizquel, one of baseball's best defensive shortstops and a switch-hitter, batted .291 (165-for-567) with seven homers and 59 RBIs last season for the
Cleveland Indians. He also scored 82 runs, stole 19 bases and did not commit an error over the last 55 games.
Vizquel filed for free agency last month after the Indians declined to pick up his $5 million option for 2005. Vizquel had said he wanted to return for a 12th season in Cleveland, where he grew into one of the franchise's most popular players, but the Indians said his return would be "a long shot." General manager Mark Shapiro's priority this offseason is pitching.
Shapiro did meet with Vizquel and his agent, Adam Katz, last month to discuss the possibility of a return, but nothing came of it. Cleveland had to pay Vizquel a $1 million buyout.
Last season, the high-energy Vizquel became just the 19th active player to reach 2,000 hits, and now has 2,147 in 16 major league seasons. He won the American League Gold Glove every year from 1993 to 2001. The Indians acquired him in a trade with Seattle in December of 1993.
San Francisco signed
Deivi Cruz of the Dominican Republic, the Giants' primary shortstop last season, to an $800,000, one-year contract earlier this month, but general manager Brian Sabean made it clear he was looking for a long-term solution in the position _ and told Cruz that, too.
San Francisco missed the playoffs, but was in the thick of the NL West race until the final weekend.
