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The San Francisco Giants' offseason tour down memory lane continued on Tuesday when the team reportedly re-acquired free agent reliever Ramon Ramirez on a minor league contract (h/t Andrew Baggarly).Ramirez was a key contributor on the 2010 Giants team that brought the organization its first championship since moving west to San Francisco in 1958. General manager Brian Sabean swung a deal for Ramirez at the deadline that year, and he delivered with a 0.67 ERA over the final two months of the season.In 2011, he remained an outstanding contributor as part of manager Bruce Bochy's setup corpse. He put a 2.62 ERA with 66 strikeouts over 68.2 innings that year. Sabean then dealt Ramirez and Andres Torres to the Mets for Angel Pagan last winter in a deal that helped propel the Giants to a second World Series title in three years.This offseason Sabean has brought back all three of ...

When the Giants non-tendered reliever Brian Wilson earlier this offseason, the chance remained that he could return to the team on a more reasonable contract.That chance appears to be no more, as Giants general manager Brian Sabean all but said he won't be back according to a recent New York Post article.“I’m going to be brutally honest as I always am, I don’t [think Wilson will return],” Sabean said during an event in Midtown on Saturday. “In this case, where you are getting a second Tommy John … it’s the type of rehab where he’s still not further up along to judge exactly where he may be able to come back in major league fashion, let alone as a closer.”After making $8.2 million in 2012, the Giants would have had to offer Wilson a contract of at least $6.8 million this coming season, so the non-tender wasn't all that shocking.However, ...

After keeping the core of their championship team together by re-signing free agents Jeremy Affeldt, Angel Pagan and Marco Scutaro, the latest rumors pertaining to the San Francisco Giants mostly surround the periphery of the roster.For example, the Giants were rumored to be interested in backup outfielder Endy Chavez before he agreed to a minor league deal elsewhere on Monday.Before missing out on Chavez, the Giants were busy building the depth of their roster by signing free agent outfielder Andres Torres to a major league deal, claiming reliever Sandy Rosario off of waivers and agreeing to minor league contracts with catcher Guillermo Quiroz, infielder Wilson Valdez and reliever Chad Gaudin.With the big transactions of the winter already taken care of, the Giants will spend the rest of the offseason continuing to build up the bench and bullpen.The biggest questions that remain are whether the club will re-sign Brian Wilson, trade ...

The Detroit Tigers need to make a strong effort in attempting to sign closer Brian Wilson who is coming off Tommy John surgery but yet expected to be healthy by Opening Day according to Tim Brown at Yahoo! Sports.  Source: Brian Wilson has been told by surgeon James Andrews that he will be cleared for spring training and ready by opening day.— Tim Brown (@TBrownYahoo) December 6, 2012  Scott Miller at CBS Sports mentioned last night on Twitter that Wilson is receiving lots of interest around baseball but didn't specify which five teams he's narrowed his list down to.  Lots of interest in Brian Wilson, source says. He's still not close to signing but has narrowed list from 9 or 10 teams to 5 or so— Scott Miller (@ScottMCBS) December 28, 2012  Hopefully the Tigers are on that list.Wilson, who according to Henry Shulman from the SF Chronicle was upset at being released from the ...

Two years ago, Brian Wilson established himself as one of the best closers in baseball by saving 48 games in the regular season and then helping the San Francisco Giants win the World Series.Now he's out of a job after being non-tendered, and he's looking for a team to take a chance on him less than a year removed from the second Tommy John operation of his career.Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle hinted last week that Wilson won't be coming back to the Giants until he's exhausted all other possibilities. The good news for him, according to ESPN's Buster Olney, is that he's expected to get an opportunity to be a closer again in 2013.But where might said opportunity come from? Which teams are not only willing to sign a potential closer, but willing to roll the dice on Wilson?There are eight that spring to mind.Note: Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise ...

The deadline to tender arbitration-eligible players a contract has come and gone. A few names jump out as players the Boston Red Sox might have some interest in bringing to spring training. Most of the attention will be placed on pitching, pitching and more pitching. If the Sox have learned anything the last couple of seasons, it's that they can't have enough pitching options available to them through the season. Most of the these pitchers can be brought in on minor league deals with an invite to spring training or on a major league contract with a low base salary accompanied by incentives. The Mets cut Mike Pelfrey loose, someone the Sox might bring in on a one-year, low-base contract with incentives. Pelfrey might be receptive to this coming off of Tommy John surgery to rebuild his value. The Nationals let both John Lannan and Tom Gorzelanny go, two more options for the Sox if ...

Former San Francisco Giants closer Brian Wilson is now a free agent after not receiving a tender before the Nov. 30 deadline, according to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle: It's official: Wilson non-tendered and now a free agent. Romo, Casilla, Mijares, Pence, Arias, Blanco, Posey all tendered.— Henry Schulman (@hankschulman) December 1, 2012 Schulman's report was later confirmed by Chris Haft of MLB.com.Andrew Baggarly of CSNBayArea.com reported earlier on Friday that the two sides were nowhere near an agreement—a good indicator that no offer would be made on San Francisco's behalf.  Wilson saved 171 games throughout his career in San Francisco but missed nearly all of the 2012 campaign after blowing out his elbow. As a result, the hard-throwing and colorful closer underwent the second Tommy John surgery of his career.He would have been eligible to make $6.8 million next season if the team chose to tender him, according ...

One reason the New York Yankees are not—and should not be—interested in re-signing reliever Rafael Soriano to the four-year, $60 million deal he's reportedly seeking is because there are plenty of bargains to be found on the free-agent market.Two former closers, in particular, are the sort of low-risk, high-reward proposition the Yankees should be making as they try to keep their spending low and their payroll within range of the $189 million luxury tax threshold for 2014. At the end of October, the Kansas City Royals declined Joakim Soria's $8 million option for 2013, giving him a $750,000 buyout instead. Soria missed all of this season after undergoing Tommy John surgery on his right elbow.San Francisco Giants reliever Brian Wilson may soon join him in free agency. The San Francisco Chronicle's Henry Schulman reports that the Giants don't want to bring back Wilson for 80 percent of his 2012 salary, equaling $6.8 million. Wilson ...

The Hot Stove is still in simmer mode, but offseason activity is beginning to pick up around the majors. About the only movement in San Francisco so far has been the Giants' commitment to offering Hunter Pence arbitration.But this should be a busy winter for the Giants, with nine free agents from this past season's 40-man roster, an arbitration-eligible closer coming off Tommy John Surgery, and a need for another power bat in the lineup.Here is a look at four players from the 2012 World Series champions who could be on the move this offseason.Begin Slideshow

For those staying up all hours of the night with the shakes, cigarette ashes sprinkling the floor as your hands quiver from the nerves, Brian Wilson is still Brian Wilson. You can call off the support group, because The Beard is doing just fine. At least, we think things are fairly status quo for the Giants closer as he continues to come back from injury. This picture from SF Gate (h/t BuzzFeed) leads us to believe he is still trucking as the most enigmatic MLB star out there. Let's break this thing down like it was vital game film. First off, the SF Gate report confirms that the sneakers on Wilson's feet are indeed the Nike MAG's, making us jealous we are not Wilson for the first time ever. Yes, his rocking the Marty McFly's is what did it for us. Instead of riding to work on a hover board, something we wouldn't put past Wilson even though those ...