It looks like free-agent center fielder Ángel Pagán is staying put in the Bay Area…
The 31-year-old Puerto Rican professional baseball player is thisclose to sealing a $40 million, four-year deal with the San Francisco Giants.
Bobby Evans, the team’s vice president of baseball operations, said the pact with Pagán was “very close” to being finalized and that the leadoff hitter would be subject to a physical to finalize his return to the reigning World Series champions.
Retaining Pagán was among the top priorities for the team’s general manager Brian Sabean this offseason, along with keeping recently re-signed left-handed reliever Jeremy Affeldt and second baseman Marco Scutaro.
Pagán batted .288 with eight home runs, 56 RBIs and a San Francisco-best 15 triples in his first season with the Giants. Pagán said late in the season and again after the World Series parade that he hoped to return, but wanted to test free agency and sought some job security in the form of a multiyear deal.
Whether NL championship series MVP Scutaro returns is still a question. He very well could have a new suitor in the mix after the New York Yankees said Monday that third baseman Alex Rodriguez will have surgery on his left hip and could be lost until the 2013 All-Star break.
Sabean said he likely wouldn’t address his bullpen until after first negotiating with the representatives for Pagán and Scutaro.
The 37-year-old Venezuelan Scutaro hit .362 with three homers and 44 RBIs in 61 games with the Giants after he was acquired in a trade with the Colorado Rockies.
