Giants likely out of race for top utility man Zobrist

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NASHVILLE — The Giants expect Ben Zobrist to make a decision soon, possibly setting off a flood of position player deals. They don’t, however, expect Zobrist to decide that he wants to play the next three or four seasons in San Francisco.

A day after Zobrist visited the city and AT&T Park, general manager Bobby Evans said he preferred to keep details of the visit mostly under wraps. But the sense the Giants have gotten is that Zobrist, the game’s best utility man, would prefer to play second base going forward. That would make the Mets and Nationals likelier destinations and eliminate the Giants, who fully expect Joe Panik to return from a season-ending back injury. 

Evans said Panik has been cleared to have a normal offseason and he’ll travel to the team’s Scottsdale facility sometime in the coming weeks to check in. 

“Joe is doing great,” Evans said.

Zobrist, 34, was being viewed as a left fielder by the Giants. He has played 111 career games in left and 616 at second. Evans said he’ll be “open minded” in his search for another outfielder and they’re “not zeroed in on one guy.” 

The Giants do have a type in mind. They value athleticism and the ability to play multiple outfield spots, and they would like to find a young outfielder who can be part of the plan moving forward since both Angel Pagan and Gregor Blanco will be free agents after the 2016 season. The Giants are involved at all levels of the market, but the preference is to keep some flexibility and spread the remaining budget around, adding a left fielder, a second starter and possibly another reliever. That could ultimately rule out a run at someone like Jason Heyward, who could get a $200 million deal.

The Giants are known to like Dexter Fowler, who rejected a qualifying offer from the Cubs. Having already forfeited their first-round pick to sign Jeff Samardzija, Evans isn’t as concerned with losing another pick as he might normally be. They’re also known to have interest in Gerardo Parra, an excellent defender who can handle all three outfield spots.

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Talks will heat up over the coming days here at the Opryland Resort, but on Monday, the Giants were relatively relaxed. Having checked off the main offseason box — a No. 2 starter — they can wait out the outfield market and try and be opportunistic. They don’t feel tremendous pressure to move quickly on a big name. The outfield market has been slow to develop, anyway. 

“It’s not lost on us that we have Jarrett Parker and Mac Williamson,” Evans added, “But at the same time, if we have the opportunity to get better we want to do that.”

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