Obri
02-20-2003, 09:24 AM
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Losing out on signing Diamondbacks outfielder Steve Finley in the offseason turned out to have a silver lining for the Giants, who signed left-hander Kirk Rueter to a two-year, $12 million contract extension through the 2005 season, the team announced Wednesday.
"I'm just happy," said Rueter, 32. "We went to the Giants, and I knew this was the last year of my contract. I wanted to, like I did the last time, try to give myself every opportunity to stay in a Giants uniform as long as I can, and hopefully, I'll keep going a little bit longer after this deal."
During the 2000 season, the final year of his previous contract, Rueter told his agent, Tommy Tanzer, to get him a contract extension with the Giants, even though it meant signing below market value. Rueter agreed to a three-year, $15.6 million deal that was set to expire at the end of the 2003 season.
Tanzer also represents Finley, whom the Giants pursued this winter, and Rueter asked Tanzer to "drop hints" during his talks with the team that Rueter was very interested in remaining with the Giants.
"If you look at his track record, we all in the organization know what he's meant to the ballclub," said general manager Brian Sabean. "It was certainly something that we not only wanted to entertain, but we're very flattered that, as in the past, he was interested with his agent to do something as equally appealing to the club as it was for him to have his back scratched."
The deal will pay him $4 million in 2004 and $5 million in 2005 with a $3 million signing bonus. Rueter, known as "Woody" to San Francisco fans and his teammates, joined the Giants in a July 1996 trade with Montreal.
In Rueter's 199 starts as a Giant, the team has tallied a 124-75 record, including a 25-8 mark in his 33 starts in 2002. The team notched an 11-0 record in Rueter's no-decisions, as he went 14-8 with a 3.23 ERA and became the first Giants lefty since Johnny Antonelli to win at least 10 games in six consecutive seasons.
Rueter owns a lifetime 109-68 record, good for the fifth-highest winning percentage by a left-hander since 1980, and he's 10th among all active pitchers with a .615 winning percentage.
Extremely popular with his teammates not only for his winning ways but also for "The Shed" -- his impressive 4,500-foot entertainment and memorabilia complex at his Nashville, Ill., home -- Rueter fell in love with the Giants organization and said he hopes to finish his career in San Francisco.
"My family and I are very happy in San Francisco and very comfortable with all the people," said Rueter. "I can't say enough about all the people. Last year, before the playoffs in St. Louis, Sabes [Sabean] and [assistant GM] Ned [Colletti] both came out to The Shed, and I don't know if you've got too many players that had the general manager and the assistant general manager coming out to your house the night before the playoffs.
"It's like a family, and we wanted to stay. I didn't see the benefits of playing this year and then trying to go be a free agent and go somewhere else, even if it was for more money. I'll give up money to be around family people anytime. I'm just flattered that they wanted me and wanted to keep me."
"I'm just happy," said Rueter, 32. "We went to the Giants, and I knew this was the last year of my contract. I wanted to, like I did the last time, try to give myself every opportunity to stay in a Giants uniform as long as I can, and hopefully, I'll keep going a little bit longer after this deal."
During the 2000 season, the final year of his previous contract, Rueter told his agent, Tommy Tanzer, to get him a contract extension with the Giants, even though it meant signing below market value. Rueter agreed to a three-year, $15.6 million deal that was set to expire at the end of the 2003 season.
Tanzer also represents Finley, whom the Giants pursued this winter, and Rueter asked Tanzer to "drop hints" during his talks with the team that Rueter was very interested in remaining with the Giants.
"If you look at his track record, we all in the organization know what he's meant to the ballclub," said general manager Brian Sabean. "It was certainly something that we not only wanted to entertain, but we're very flattered that, as in the past, he was interested with his agent to do something as equally appealing to the club as it was for him to have his back scratched."
The deal will pay him $4 million in 2004 and $5 million in 2005 with a $3 million signing bonus. Rueter, known as "Woody" to San Francisco fans and his teammates, joined the Giants in a July 1996 trade with Montreal.
In Rueter's 199 starts as a Giant, the team has tallied a 124-75 record, including a 25-8 mark in his 33 starts in 2002. The team notched an 11-0 record in Rueter's no-decisions, as he went 14-8 with a 3.23 ERA and became the first Giants lefty since Johnny Antonelli to win at least 10 games in six consecutive seasons.
Rueter owns a lifetime 109-68 record, good for the fifth-highest winning percentage by a left-hander since 1980, and he's 10th among all active pitchers with a .615 winning percentage.
Extremely popular with his teammates not only for his winning ways but also for "The Shed" -- his impressive 4,500-foot entertainment and memorabilia complex at his Nashville, Ill., home -- Rueter fell in love with the Giants organization and said he hopes to finish his career in San Francisco.
"My family and I are very happy in San Francisco and very comfortable with all the people," said Rueter. "I can't say enough about all the people. Last year, before the playoffs in St. Louis, Sabes [Sabean] and [assistant GM] Ned [Colletti] both came out to The Shed, and I don't know if you've got too many players that had the general manager and the assistant general manager coming out to your house the night before the playoffs.
"It's like a family, and we wanted to stay. I didn't see the benefits of playing this year and then trying to go be a free agent and go somewhere else, even if it was for more money. I'll give up money to be around family people anytime. I'm just flattered that they wanted me and wanted to keep me."