Andy Baggarly is the man of the hour

as his blog once again scoops the world with the announcement of Espineli’s demotion and Matt Palmer’s promotion. I don’t get the move. The only way this makes sense is if Palmer makes a spot start for Lincecum. If that’s the case, why not wait a couple of days?

Just heard

via a poster on MCC that Ryan Rohlinger has been called up. Should be interesting. I think you could see John Bowkerish production out of him (250/300/400), albeit at a more difficult defensive position. Apparently the Giants are also thinking about using him at 2B and SS. Most scouting reports say he doesn’t have the range for SS, but he could have quite a bit of value at 2B.

Minor Transactions

Daryl Maday and Waldis Joaquin, two prospects who I’ve been keeping an eye on, have been promoted– Daryl to Connecticut and Waldis to San Jose.  You can see a short write up of Waldis in today’s Prospect Watch.  Daryl works in the low 90s with a good breaking ball.  His pro career has been marked by good control and groundball tendencies.  He profiles as a back of the rotation starter or reliever.

Recent Deals, Recent-er Thoughts

I’ve spent the last four days traveling back to Indiana– Oh soul-crushing humidity, I’ve hardly missed you at all!– and to my surprise, there has been big goings on in Giants Prospectland. As is my wont, I will take them section by section:

Wednesday Web Whatsit

• From Joe Perez’s blog, Geno Espineli will join Nate Schierholtz on the US Olympic Squad. Good for Geno. I think the Giants have enough young relievers in the upper minors, so Geno’s absence won’t really affect the Giants’ bullpen depth.
  

Some Minor Notes

• According to SF Gate the Giants have sent down Brian Horwitz and called up Eugenio Velez. Unless Eugenio has Todd Linden Syndrome, his second round in the majors should be much better than his first. The demotion of Brian Horwitz is surprising. I would much rather have Travis Denker be sent down.
• Here is a list of some Minor Leaguers who are on the DL: Brian Anderson, David Quinowski, Steve Palazzolo, Guillermo Rodriguez, Brian Bocock, Paul Oseguera, Ryan Shaver, Clayton Tanner, Steven Calicutt, Matthew Klimas. I was a big David Quinowski fan before the injury. Hopefully he comes back next year and pitches well.
• Nate Bump was named the EL pitcher of the week. Congratulations, Nate.

Minor Transactions

OF Dom Duggan assigned to San Jose from Extended Spring Training.

SP Gib Hobson promoted to Augusta from Salem-Keizer.

OF Taylor Cresswell promoted to Augusta from Salem-Keizer.

OF Francisco Peguero demoted to Salem Keizer from Augusta.

C Matt Klimas is on the DL with an injured right hamstring.

Giants Sign Dominican Prospect…

Giants sign Dominican prospect RHP Luis Angel Mateo according to Yahoo Sports. Not much have been written about him and he wasn’t included in this ESPN article that previewed Latin American prospects (and linked the Giants to another Dominican Rafael Rodriguez who has been compared to Vlad). Until we hear the bonus numbers, we won’t know how highly the Giants view this prospect.

*Update*

I come back from the movies (Hancock was pretty terrible) and the blogosphere is abuzzing with international signing news. Some links:

• The SF Giants website has an article on Luis Angel Mateo. John Barr, the Giants scouting director, says that Mateo could have been drafted anywhere from the supplemental first round to the third round, and that he throws a 88-91 mph fastball and a 78-80 mph curveball.
• A pretty interesting discussion has been brewing over at Saberscouting with a sort of liveblogging of international signings. Not much action from the Giants, but a guy who purports to be Rafael Rodriguez’s agent has some good info on the soon-to-be sixteen year old who he compares to Joel Guzman. It sounds like a deal between Rodriguez and the Giants are all but done.

My own reaction? I like the approach the Giants are taking in Latin America, signing one top prospect a year rather than a group of lesser heralded prospects. Of course in an ideal world the two approaches wouldn’t be mutually exclusive, but we aren’t dealing with Unicorns and Lollipops here (as my Uncle used to say while he crushed me in Parcheesi) we’re dealing with the real world where allocation of resources is a legitimate concern. If given the choice, I would take one Madison Bumgarner over five Clayton Tanner’s every day of the week. Of course if the G’s don’t sign Rafael Rodriguez, then I reserve the right to set the Giants front office aflame.

Minor Transactions

According to Henry Schulman, Osiris Matos and Eliezer Alfonzo have been promoted to San Francisco and Steve Holm and Billy Sadler demoted to Fresno.

I must say aside from the Bocockery earlier this season, I’ve been rather pleased with the Giants’ treatment of its minor leaguers. I had written yesterday that I hoped Osiris would be promoted sooner rather than later, and lo and behold! I don’t have anything against Steve’s demotion. I like Holm but he and Alfonzo are about equal offensively, and it’s not like he’s a young prospect who needs to get playing time.

In fact the only nit I have left to pick with the current roster is Travis Denker’s presence. If they need a player to warm the bench, I’d much rather see Velez do it.  And of course I’d like to see Nate starting everyday.

Other notes:

- Vinnie Chulk is back in Fresno.

- Pablo Sandoval has been added to the World Roster for the Futures Game. Go Pablo!

Injury Reports

According to the Statesman Journal, Caleb Curry has sustained some sort of injury and Michael Ambort has reinjured his previously injured arm. Ambort’s injury is supposed to be minor, as he was available to play last night. No word on Curry’s however.

A couple of days ago, I had linked a scouting report of Caleb Curry from PG Crosschecker. Here’s a short one from BA:

Caleb Curry stole an Iowa-record 45 bases as a senior, ranking third nationally in that category entering NCAA regional play. He’s a plus runner with good instincts on the bases and in center field, and he also gets the job done at second base. Though he’s just 6 feet and 175 pounds, he has a little pop and isn’t just a slap hitter.

In non-Volcano news, San Jose Catcher Elio Sarmiento was demoted to Augusta presumably to make room for Jackson Williams. Elio was an unheralded international signee and I’ve never read a scouting report on him. He’s always been young for the league he’s been assigned to which tells me that the Giants think highly of his catching ability. I saw him in person, and he seemed to be solid defensively behind the plate. He threw out a runner at second, but the runner also seemed to have gotten a bad jump. He might be destined to be a roster filler. He’s been treated like one so far.