The Giants have designated righty reliever Vinnie Chulk for assignment. Chulk has pitched in 27 games (0 starts) for the Giants this season and he was 0-3 with a 4.83 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP. The Giants have recalled 25-year old righty reliever Sergio Romo to replace Chulk in the bullpen. Romo has pitched in 24 games in AA ball this season and he is 1-3 with 11 saves, a 4.00 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP. Romo has whiffed 30 batters in 27 innings so it appears that he has good stuff.

The San Francisco Giants will likely put a ton of their players on the trade market. They will likely keep the starting rotation in tact but almost everyone else can be had for a price. The Giants need young position players in return for their veterans as the farm system is pretty weak right now. 3B Jose Castillo, 2B Ray Durham, C Bengie Molina, infielder Rich Aurilia, shortstop Omar Vizquel and 1B/OF Dan Ortmeier likely will be gone by the end of July if the Giants can find takers for them. Righty relievers Tyler Walker, Keiichi Yabu and Vinnie Chulk also might have new home parks soon. The Giants should not be waiting as they should be moving players right now.

The Braves want another outfielder with some pop and Randy Winn fits the bill. With starting oufielders Mark Kotsay and Matt Diaz out the Giants could probably get a good prospect like shortstop Brandon Hicks if they make a move sooner rather than later. Sure, Winn is one of the best players on the Giants but he wasn’t likely going to play with them much longer as the Giants weren’t likely to pick up his option for 2009. The 34-year old switch hitting Winn has played in 69 games for the Giants this season and he is 77 for 259 (.297 avg, .804 OPS) with 38 runs scored, 5 homers, 27 RBIs and 10 stolen bases. Brandon Hicks is a 22-year old righty swinging shorstop. Hicks has played in 59 games in AA-ball this season and he is 56 for 223 (.251 avg, .869 OPS) with 44 runs scored, 13 homers, 38 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. If the Braves agreed to trade Hicks for Winn the Giants would have to jump at it.

The Giants will likely call up 25-year old lefty reliever Eugene Espineli soon if he keeps pitching like he is right now. He has pitched in 25 games (0 starts) in AAA ball this season and he is 1-0 with 1 save, a 1.34 ERA and a 0.82 WHIP. The most amazing thing about Espineli’s season to date is his control as he has only walked 4 batters in 40.1 innings this season. He deserves a chance to show what he can in the major leagues based on his pitching so far this season.

The Giants did everything they could to try to bury Ray Durham on the depth chart after his awful 2007 season but he has come back strong this year. Durham has played in 61 games for the Giants this season and he is 53 for 174 (.305 avg, .806 OPS) with 25 runs scored, 2 homers, 21 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. The Giants hope that Durham keeps playing well as they will likely have a fire sale in a few weeks in which all vets must go for kids.

The Giants have signed 28-year old righty reliever Scott Munter and they have sent him to AAA to provide organizational depth in the bullpen. He pitched in 16 games (0 starts) in AAA ball for the Rays and he was 1-1 with a 4.84 ERA and a 1.66 WHIP. Munter has pitched in 84 games (0 starts) in his major league career (all with the Giants) and he is 3-2 with a 4.75 ERA and a 1.64 WHIP. This was a nice low risk move for the Giants.

The Giants have designated lefty Erick Threets for assignment. Threets has good stuff but he’s just to darn wild to help the Giants right now. He pitched in 7 games (0 starts) with the Giants this season and he was 0-1 with a 3.60 ERA and a 2.00 WHIP. He walked 9 batters in only 10 innings this season for the Giants and that’s flat out unacceptable. Alex Hinshaw has replaced Threets as the 2nd lefty out of the bullpen for the Giants. He has pitched in 9 games (0 starts) for the Giants this season and he is 1-0 with a 2.84 ERA and a 0.95 WHIP. In only 6.1 innings for the Giants this season he has already whiffed 11 batters.

The Giants have placed 1B/OF Dan Ortmeier on the 15-day disabled list with a broke left middle finger. Ortmeier has played in 38 games this season for the Giants and he is 14 for 64 (.219 avg, .628 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 5 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. He has also whiffed an amazing 18 times this season as he has had trouble making contact. Ortmeier has been replaced on the roster by 25-year old righty swinging OF Brian Horwitz who has been called up from AAA. Horwitz has already played in 2 games for the Giants this season and he is 2 for 5 (.400 avg, .800 OPS) with 1 run scored. Horwitz has played in 44 games in AAA ball this season and he is 40 for 136 (.294 avg, .792 OPS) with 18 runs scored, 5 homers and 18 RBIs. The Giants weren’t happy with Ortmeier this season so they probably hope Horwitz will play good enough to take his job.