Giants sign free-agent pitcher Russ Ortiz

01/09/2007 6:33 PM ET

San Francisco Giants

SAN FRANCISCO -- Adding a veteran arm in the form of a familiar face, the San Francisco Giants have signed free-agent right-handed pitcher Russ Ortiz to a one-year contract for the 2007 season, club Senior Vice President and General Manager Brian Sabean announced today.

Per club policy, financial terms of the contract were not disclosed.

Ortiz boasts a lifetime .578 winning percentage, having compiled a 108-79 record and 4.39 ERA over 270 Major League games (245 starts) with San Francisco (1998-2002), Atlanta (2003-04), Arizona (2005-06) and Baltimore (2006). The 32-year-old hurler and former 21-game winner is not far removed from being one of the National League's premier pitchers, as he ranked third in the senior circuit with 99 wins during the six-year span from 1999-2004.

"Russ provides us with another option on our staff," Sabean said. "We have done our due dilligence in scouting the Puerto Rican Winter League in which he participated, and we believe Russ deserves a chance at a comeback."

Originally San Francisco's fourth round selection in the 1995 First-Year Player Draft, Ortiz posted a 67-44 mark and 4.01 ERA in 154 games (144 starts) during his first Giants tenure. A rotation stalwart, his 63 victories from 1999-2002 are still the most by any Giants hurler over a four-year stretch since Hall of Famers Juan Marichal (77 wins) and Gaylord Perry (74) from 1968-71.

A 2003 NL All-Star, Ortiz will look to rebound from a rough and injury-marred 2006 campaign in which he went a combined 0-8 with a 8.14 ERA in 26 games (11 starts) for the Diamondbacks and Orioles. During this current off-season, he posted an excellent four-game, three-start showing for Manati in the Puerto Rican Winter League, going 1-1 with a 2.40 ERA (4er, 15.0ip) and a .196 batting average against.

Ortiz has pitched in a quartet of post seasons, twice each with San Francisco (2000 and 2002) and Atlanta (2003-04). The University of Oklahoma product has produced a 3-1 mark and 5.73 ERA over nine career playoff starts, including a pair of NLDS victories during the Giants' run to the 2002 National League pennant.

An accomplished hitter, Ortiz owns a lifetime .208 batting average (96-for-462) and is tied for fifth among active pitchers with six career home runs.

This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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