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SAN FRANCISCO -- Free agent Armando Benitez and the San Francisco Giants agreed to a three-year contract Tuesday, a move that stabilizes the club's closer role that's been in flux since Robb Nen got injured two years ago.

	Armando Benitez Relief Pitcher Florida Marlins Profile
	2004 SEASON STATISTICS GM W L Sv K ERA 64 2 2 47 62 1.29

"He's the prototype," general manager Brian Sabean said. "He has been and will be a dominant force at the end of the game. ... He's a guy we had our eye on."

Benitez bounced back from a subpar 2003 season to save an NL-leading 47 games in 51 chances and lead major league relievers with a 1.29 ERA for the Florida Marlins this year. His signing fills one of the Giants' biggest offseason needs.

Since Nen was sidelined with a serious shoulder injury following the 2002 World Series, the Giants have pieced together their bullpen. Tim Worrell closed in 2003 before leaving for Philadelphia as a free agent and San Francisco struggled at the end of games last season.

Matt Herges started the year as closer before being replaced by Dustin Hermanson in August. Hermanson saved 17 games but couldn't hold a three-run lead on the final Saturday of the season against Los Angeles, helping cost San Francisco a playoff berth.

"I'm excited he's on our side," manager Felipe Alou said. "We had to make a change in the middle of the season and it was not easy. Our guys did a tremendous job saving the games. ... We have a guy who has been very successful and an intimidating closer."

Hermanson is a free agent and is unlikely to return to the Giants, Sabean said, because he would like to close or start next season.

The Giants previously signed shortstop Omar Vizquel to a $12.25 million, three-year contract and will turn their attention to upgrading their lineup around NL MVP Barry Bonds.

"We wanted to fill this need so we could move to other areas to address what we could do in the lineup or outfield," Sabean said.

Benitez is an intimidating presence on the mound and is one of the game's most overpowering pitchers, striking out 826 batters in 654 innings.

But while Benitez has been one of the game's top closers in the regular season with 244 saves in 283 chances -- the fourth best percentage all-time -- his postseason history is spotty.

He has blown six of 10 postseason save opportunities -- a major league record -- with Baltimore and the New York Mets, including the opener of the 2000 World Series against the Yankees and Game 2 of a first-round playoff series that year against San Francisco.

"He's 32-years old and has learned a lot from his experience," Sabean said, adding that in this postseason "people with greater reputations proved they're fallible.

The Yankees' Mariano Rivera, the best postseason closer ever, blew two saves in the ALCS against Boston, contributing to New York's collapse after taking a 3-0 lead in the series.

Benitez also gave up three game-winning hits in the 1997 ALCS for Baltimore against Cleveland and gave up the infamous Jeffrey Maier home run in the opener of the 1996 ALCS against the Yankees. In that game, a 12-year-old boy reached over the wall to get a drive by Derek Jeter. The Yankees beat Baltimore that afternoon and in the series.

Despite his postseason troubles, pitching for a team that is in contention every year was a big attraction for Benitez.

"The quality of the team excited me the most," he said in a statement released through the team. "The possibility of this team competing for the playoffs caught my attention the most."

The Giants would not release the breakdown of the contract but assistant general manager Ned Colletti said the deal was backloaded, with a signing bonus spread over five years and the salary rising each season.

"Without that we would have had a real tough time folding him in," Colletti said. "They're willingness to work with us was the key to getting it done."

Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press