Giants close to signing Bloomquist?

WILL HE? Bloomquist has been offered a contract by the Giants. Will he take it? (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

A tweet this morning by Sports Illustrated’s Jon Heyman indicates that the San Francisco Giants are close to signing free agent outfielder Willie Bloomquist.

Yahoo’s Tim Brown mentioned Bloomquist, 33, as a possible target for the Giants yesterday, and mentioned that the Arizona Diamondbacks (where the utility man played last year) “had a miscommunication” over the weekend.

Bloomquist batted .266/.317/.340 with 4 HR and 26 RBI in just 97 games with the D-backs last year (almost mirroring his 10-year average).

He hit .318 as a starter against Milwaukee in the postseason last month, though.

Overall, Bloomquist stole 23 bags in 2011 and could easily take over the role of “super-utilityman” that manager Bruce Bochy covets so much (see Mark DeRosa, Juan Uribe). Bloomquist has said he prefers a bigger role.

With the Giants’ shortstop situation still in flux (San Francisco is still assessing Brandon Crawford‘s worth at the position), Bloomquist — who can play all over the infield and outfield — could find himself as the Giants’ everyday shortstop.

*** UPDATE 11/9/11 (9:40 am): Peter Gammons reports that Bloomquist has reached an agreement with the Diamondbacks. Scott Miller of CBS Sports says it’s a 2-year deal worth $3.8 million.

*** UPDATE 11/9/11 (5:12 pm): Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic tweets that Bloomquist turned down a more lucrative offer by the Giants to stay in Arizona. According to Brown, it was a 2-year, $4.6 million offer. Adam LaRoche, eat your heart out.