According to Ben Nicholson-Smith of MLB Trade Rumors, Mike Fontenot and the Giants have agreed to a one-year deal for 2012. This almost certainly guarantees that Jeff Keppinger will be non-tendered, as Brian Sabean had said that it would be one or the other. The Giants definitely made the right decision here: Fontenot is a solid defender at second, and he can play a passable third base/shortstop. His bat, though not particularly special, is pretty useful as well: he’s hit .263/.332/.406 (91 wRC+) over his career, and is coming off a decent season at the plate (.227/.304/.377, 87 wRC+). It might not seem like much, but he was worth one win above replacement in 85 games this year. Not bad for a bench guy. Additionally, as a left-handed hitter, he seems to complement Freddy Sanchez pretty well. Keppinger just wasn’t a good fit.
UPDATE: Confirmation — Fontenot has agreed to a one-year deal; Jeff Keppinger and Eli Whiteside have been non-tendered. The deal is for $1.05MM – very reasonable, and slightly less than I had anticipated.
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5 Responses to Mike Fontenot agrees to one-year deal with the Giants
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Surprised they couldn’t trade Keppinger for the proverbially “bag of balls”?
1 million for an experienced utility infielder is a steal.
Maybe there’s still a 5% chance Sabean signs Beltran on the cheap and trades Huff. Maybe.
Good show for the Hobbit. I was expecting double the salary, I think that’s very team friendly.
Hey Julian – Loved your idea of looking at Chris Volstad – didn’t see any confirm yes/no on a non-tender decision by the Fish. You know anything? Andrew Brackman got signed by the Reds, I wish the Gints got in on that.
from the MLB.com Miami page:
“Miami tendered contracts on Monday to Bonifacio, Edward Mujica, Anibal Sanchez, Chris Volstad and Juan Carlos Oviedo (formerly Leo Nunez).”
That’s going to be an exciting team to watch down there in South Florida. Hopefully people will get off their duffs and watch them play.
Thanks dude, I forgot to go straight to the source. Too much MLBTR for me.
Yep, I’m kind of surprised they tendered him a contract.