Rod Beck wound up with the Cubs this off-season and became one of the team’s more popular players even before he threw a pitch.
But Beck obviously wanted to remain with San Francisco, and still doesn’t understand why they didn’t re-sign him.
“I don’t know who was actually closing the door,” Beck said. “The feeling here was such that I felt I did everything both on and off the field that I was ever asked to do. I had an All-Star season, I’m 29 years old and if they would have offered me what (Robb) Nen’s got left on his contract (three more years and $14.7 million) I’d still be (in San Francisco). It never feels good when doors close, but this is an opportunity for me and the door opened.
“I’ve never been given a reason why. Maybe I wore out my welcome. I don’t know. The only thing I can think of was I was probably the last link to the (former Giants owner Bob) Lurie regime and they just wanted to clean house. I’m not going to go fishing for answers. At this point, there’s no need for an explanation. It is what it is and I’m happy here. I wish them the best of luck.”
San Francisco General Manager Brian Sabean argued that the reason why Beck is no longer a Giant is because he and his agent asked for too much money and too many years.
“If he wanted to (stay), he should’ve opened his mouth and his agent should have conveyed that,” Sabean said. “It was all pie in the sky. They had to have the biggest and the best (contract).”
Beck didn’t see it that way.
“It wasn’t much of an offer,” he said. “They gave me an offer they knew I’d refuse.”
The Giants said they offered Beck two years at about $4 million a year. Beck wanted at least three years so he could play in the team’s new ballpark, currently under construction. Sabean said Beck wanted five years and wondered why Beck thought “we were going to offer a five- or six-year contract. Who does that? One guy I know. Maybe two. Why are these feelings coming up now?”
Instead, the Giants traded for the Marlins’ Nen, and the Cubs signed Beck for one year at $4 million plus a mutual option year.
“I’d be staying in a Giants uniform for (Nen’s contract),” Beck repeated. “I just left with a bad taste in my mouth.”
The quote: Beck, on his notable girth: “I’ve never seen anyone on the disabled list with pulled fat.”
Deja vu: Kevin Foster had a brutal first spring outing last year, and he repeated that effort Sunday, giving up six runs in two-thirds of an inning. He walked four batters and forced in a run with a bases-loaded walk.
“I beat myself,” Foster said. “I tried to pitch in midseason form, which was stupid.”
Every time Foster or Terry Mulholland struggles, as Mulholland did in his first appearance Friday, the name Kerry Wood is certain to come up as a possible replacement in the rotation.
“I hope he does so well it becomes a real issue,” manager Jim Riggleman said. “We pretty much have a plan on how we want to bring him along, but nothing is written in stone.”
Riggleman said only “injuries” to one of the starters would change the current plan to start Wood in Triple A.
Cub files: Ryne Sandberg was at Sunday’s game, watching with his family and signing autographs.
. . . Sunday would have been Harry Caray’s 84th birthday, and a moment of silence was held in his honor before the game.
