Henry Schulman:

Payroll in 2012 will be $130 million, up marginally from the $124 million final total for 2011 but substantially more than the $97 million paid to the 2010 title team.

...the Giants hope a healthy Buster Posey and Freddy Sanchez, plus new outfielder Melky Cabrera, can extend a lineup that hit sufficiently to win a World Series. Now, they are seeking depth that they lacked last season.

The Giants pursued Willie Bloomquist, because he can play short and outfield, before he re-signed with Arizona for two years at $3.8 million. Reports tie the Giants to oft-injured center fielder Grady Sizemore, who could have a big upside if healthy.

"We'll consider anybody," Baer said, "but we're very mindful of focusing on folks that we're going to want to keep, people like Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum, Buster Posey, Pablo Sandoval and Brian Wilson. These are all people who are going to be discussed."

The Giants have not signed any player for more than two years since 2008, but Baer said that was "not an ordained structure or rule," and he expects the team to offer longer deals to Lincecum and Cain.

Both are priorities this winter, Lincecum because he could fetch gargantuan numbers in arbitration, Cain because he can walk as a free agent after next season.

Baer said season-tickets prices will rise an average of 5-6 percent, though he acknowledged that a handful of customers will see double-digit increases because the team determined that those tickets were undervalued. He said single-game ticket prices will be "pretty much in line with last year," though they will fluctuate with dynamic pricing.