Giants' NL West rivals focus on pitching

(12-10) 04:00 PST LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. --

The winter meetings opened with the stunning Jayson Werth announcement and concluded with the Carl Crawford news. The two most expensive free-agent hitters cost a collective $268 million and went to teams in the East, the Nationals and Red Sox, respectively.

The National League West was more about pitching.

"If you want to compete in that division, you have to pitch," said Kevin Towers, general manager of the last-place Diamondbacks. "For us to get better and compete with San Francisco, we have to pitch well. Not that we can pitch with them, but we can be close.

"We need to follow suit. If you look at the moves in the division, it's been all pitching."

The Giants didn't make a roster move during the meetings - they were waiting Thursday to hear from World Series MVP Edgar Renteria after they offered him a contract - but their NL West foes were busy collecting arms.

Towers signed free-agent closer J.J. Putz, snagged relievers David Hernandez and Kam Mickolio from Baltimore in the Mark Reynolds trade and selected Triple-A reliever Joe Paterson off the Giants' roster in Thursday's Rule 5 draft.

Paterson, a situational lefty who throws sidearm and was 5-3 with a 3.48 ERA at two minor-league levels last season, must make Arizona's big-league roster or be offered back to the Giants. Considering the Diamondbacks' relief woes, Paterson has a good shot to stick.

Dick Tidrow, Giants vice president of player personnel, called Paterson "a big-league pitcher. He's going to make that team. He's going to get left-handed hitters out."

The Giants didn't protect Paterson on their 40-man roster partly because they're deep in left-handed relief. GM Brian Sabean said he'd be shocked if Dan Runzler doesn't make the team, likely complementing fellow lefties Jeremy Affeldt and Javier Lopez, though he has been a candidate to open in Fresno as a starter.

In other NL West pitching developments, the Padres signed Aaron Harang and got a pitching prospect, Casey Kelly, in the Adrian Gonzalez-to-Boston deal. The Dodgers were quick to set their rotation before the meetings by signing Jon Garland and re-signing Hiroki Kuroda and Ted Lilly. They added Vicente Padilla on Thursday for flexibility.

The Rockies re-signed Jorge DeLaRosa and remain on the prowl.

The Giants' pitching staff is fine, of course, and they're focusing on filling their Triple-A rotation after losing Eric Hacker (Twins) and Kevin Pucetas (Royals). They spoke this week with lefty Andrew Miller, who has struggled since being selected before Tim Lincecum in the 2006 draft.

As for Renteria, 34, he'd be shortstop Miguel Tejada's backup and would need to be available at other infield positions. The Giants are believed to have offered a salary in the Pat Burrell range, $1 million, which would be quite a drop from Renteria's expired two-year, $18.5 million deal. Similar story with Burrell, who was coming off a two-year, $16 million deal with the Rays.

If Renteria gets a better offer involving dollars and/or playing time, he could go elsewhere. But the memory of his home run off Cliff Lee that helped decide the World Series clincher won't go away.

E-mail John Shea at jshea@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page B - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle