Giants lock up Pagan with four-year deal

Angel Pagan’s free agency has been one of the most intriguing cases of the offseason.

The 31-year-old had a great 2012 for the Giants, which was good for him, and in a way, bad for the Giants. They were forced into a position where they might have to overpay to retain an older – and popular – player.

And that’s just what the Giants did on Monday, re-signing Pagan to a four-year, $40 million deal. A pair of MLB Network insiders confirmed the news within 15 minutes on Monday afternoon:

Sources: Pagan close to re-signing with #SFGiants.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 3, 2012

Pagan in agreement with giants

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) December 3, 2012

Yahoo’s Tim Brown was the first to report the terms of the deal:

Source: Pagan gets $40m over four years with Giants.

— Tim Brown (@TBrownYahoo) December 3, 2012

Here’s how the contract will break down:

Pagan breakdown: $5 million signing bonus and annual salaries of 7, 9, 9 and 10 million.

— Andrew Baggarly (@CSNBaggs) December 3, 2012

After coming over from the Mets prior to the 2012 season, Pagan posted a .288 batting average and scored 95 runs in his first season with the Giants. He legged out a league-leading 15 triples and stole 29 bases. He gets a sizable pay raise over his $4.85 million salary in 2012.

The Giants are likely relieved that they got their guy and addressed the biggest item on their offseason checklist. If they had lost out on Pagan, they would have had to wade into a lukewarm center field free agent pool.

Heading into this week’s Winter Meetings in Nashville, there were rumors that Pagan was getting a lot of attention from the Philadelphia Phillies. Maybe the Giants felt the heat and decided it was time to get serious with their offer to Pagan.

Now they have to hope Pagan’s production doesn’t decline as he enters his mid-30’s. My great fear is that this deal turns into the Aaron Rowand albatross that latched onto the Giants ankle like a 100-pound cannon ball.

Pagan is a solid player and brought lots of energy to the team, but I’d be hesitant to invest in him for more than two years at a time. Pagan will turn 32 during the 2013 season.