The Giants have exercised Jeremy Affeldt's $5MM club option for 2012, according to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter link).

As Schulman notes, that's $9.25MM on a pair of left-handed relievers for the 2012 season given today's two-year extension for Javier Lopez. However, Schulman tweeted earlier today that he spoke with Affeldt via text message prior to the Lopez news, and Affeldt told him that he's spoken with the club about the possibility of the team exercising the option and then working out a new contract.

Affeldt put up a very strong season in 2011, posting a 2.63 ERA, 7.9 K/9, and 3.5 BB/9 in 61 2/3 innings for the Giants. Perhaps most impressively, he kept the ball on the ground 62.1% of the time — a mark that ranked seventh among all relievers in 2011 (Lopez ranked sixth at 62.6%).