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The San Francisco Giants offered contracts to pitcher Jim Brower, catcher A.J. Pierzynski and infielder Pedro Feliz on Saturday, making the three eligible for salary arbitration.
Brower, a right-hander who was a spot starter and reliever last season, was 8-5 with a 3.96 ERA in 51 appearances last season.
Pierzynski came to the Giants last month in a trade with Minnesota that sent right-handed reliever Joe Nathan and two minor leaguers to the Twins. Pierzynski, an All-Star in 2002, hit .312 with 35 doubles, 11 homers and 74 RBIs in 137 games in 2003.
Feliz, a utilityman
expected to be an everyday player next season, hit .247 with 16 homers and 48
RBIs in 2003.
With the proposed blockbuster trade involving superstar Alex Rodriguez on the back burner, the Boston Red Sox kept themselves busy with other personnel moves Saturday.
The Red Sox announced they have re-signed catcher Doug Mirabelli to a one-year contract and tendered offers to 15 other players, including outfielder Trot Nixon, designated hitter David Ortiz and righthanded reliever Scott Williamson.
Mirabelli appeared in 62 games last season, primarily serving as knuckleballer Tim Wakefield's personal catcher, and batted .258 with six home runs and 18 RBI. In 336 career contests with San Francisco, Texas and the Red Sox, the 33-year-old has a .235 average with 32 homers and 115 RBI.
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Nixon, 29, batted .306 with a career-high 28 homers and 87 RBI in 2003. The
veteran right fielder owns a .277 lifetime average with 106 homers and 381 RBI
in 696 games, all with the Red Sox.
Ortiz, 28, had a breakout season in 2003, hitting .288 with 31 homers and 101 RBI - all career highs. The former Minnesota Twin, who has a .271 career average with 89 homers and 339 RBI in 583 games, finished fifth in voting for the American League Most Valuable Player Award, collecting four first-place votes.
Acquired from Cincinnati in July, Williamson struggled with the Red Sox, going 0-1 with a 6.20 ERA in 24 appearances. But the righthander came through in the postseason, posting a 2-0 record with three saves and a 1.13 ERA in eight games.
Others receiving contract offers included righthanders Bronson Arroyo and Byung-Hyun Kim, who failed miserably in the closer's role after being acquired from Arizona midway through the season and was left off the AL Championship Series roster.
Among those not tendered contracts were infielders Lou Merloni and Damian Jackson, outfielder Gabe Kapler and lefthander Scott Sauerbeck.