The Giants plan to exercise Jason Schmidt's $10.5 million option for next season, general manager Brian Sabean wrote in a memo to season ticketholders. In a letter expressing his disappointment over the team's record this year, Sabean wrote that Schmidt has returned to form and is "a veteran who we're looking to build our rotation around with our young players and some veterans we might add over the winter." One of those young players will be 20-year-old Matt Cain, who pitched impressively despite losing his big league debut Monday. "While he did not emerge victorious, in my estimation he served notice that he will contend for a spot in our starting rotation for the foreseeable future," Sabean wrote.