Steve Kline reached an agreement on a two-year, $3.5 million pact with San Francisco Friday, keeping the lefty reliever in a key role for the Giants.
Kline
Kline, 34, has a 33-37 record in 10 seasons with Cleveland, Montreal, St. Louis, Baltimore and San Francisco. He joins Alan Embree (Athletics), Jamie Walker (Orioles) and Mike Stanton (Reds) on the list of lefty relievers who've signed multiyear deals this offseason.
Kline will earn $1.75 million in both 2007 and '08.
"He was always in our internal discussions,'' Giants general
manager Brian Sabean said. "He's certainly durable and his body of
work couldn't be ignored with his track record, including last
year."
The Giants ended their second straight losing season with 11
potential free agents, and four of those have already rejoined the
team this offseason -- most notably slugger Barry Bonds' agreement
to a $16 million, one-year deal Thursday night.
Kline confirmed to ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick that he took and passed a physical exam Thursday in San Francisco, and was flying back home to Pennsylvania on Friday morning. He went 4-2 with a 3.66 ERA in 72 appearances with the Giants last season.
"I'm happy about coming back,'' Kline said by phone. "It's a great clubhouse and a great ballpark. How many places can you play where it's packed every night like that?''
Scott Schoeneweis, Ron Villone, Darren Oliver, J.C. Romero, Tom Martin and Ray King are among the lefties still on the market. Detroit, San Diego, Philadelphia, the Yankees and Angels, among others, are clubs that appear to have a need for left-handed bullpen help.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.