The Giants have claimed 22-year old righty reliever/starter Hunter Strickland off waivers from the Pirates.  He pitched in 33 games (9 starts) in A+AA-ball for the Pirates last year and he was 4-4 with 2 saves, a 3.70 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP.  Strickland has now pitched in 95 games (55 starts) in his first five years in the minors and he is 20-20 with 3 saves, a 3.97 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP.  The Giants have sent Strickland to A-ball.

The Giants have lost 28-year old righty reliever Dan Otero off waivers to the Yankees.  Otero pitched in 8 games (0 starts) for the Giants in spring training and he was 0-1 with a 9.00 ERA and a 2.00 WHIP.  He pitched in 12 games (0 starts) for the Giants in his first taste of the majors last year and he was 0-0 with a 5.84 ERA and a 1.70 WHIP.  Otero also pitched in 48 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball last year and he was 5-5 with a 2.90 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP.  The Giants have a deep bullpen and they should be o.k. without Otero moving forward.

The Giants have released 25-year old lefty swinging outfielder Wendell Fairley.  Fairley played in 60 games in Rookie+AA-ball last year and he was 34 of 161 (.211 avg, .564 OPS) with 13 runs scored, 0 homers, 16 RBIs and 2 stolen bases.  He played in 427 games in his five years in the minors with the Giants and he was 359 of 1,396 (.257 avg, .668 OPS) with 180 runs scored, 8 homers, 149 RBIs and 26 stolen bases.  This is no loss for the Giants moving forward.

The San Francisco Giants have dealt 25-year old lefty swinging 3B Conor Gillaspie from the White Sox for 21-year old righty reliever Jeff Soptic.  Gillaspie played in 6 games for the Giants last year and he was 3 for 20 (.150 avg, .350 OPS) with 2 runs scored, 0 homers and 2 RBIs.  He played in 29 games in his three years with the Giants and he was 9 for 44 (.205 avg, .566 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 1 homer and 4 RBIs.  Gillaspie was out of options, so the Giants just took what they could get for him.  Soptic pitched in 27 games (0 starts) in A-ball for the White Sox last year and he was 3-2 with a 5.40 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP.  He has now pitched in 30 games (0 starts) in his first two years in the minors and he is 3-3 with 1 save, a 5.09 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP.  He has only given up 28 hits and he has whiffed 38 batters in 46 innings so far in his minor league career, which is impressive, but he has also walked 31 batters.  If the Giants can get Soptic to start throwing more strikes, they just might have something in him.

The Giants have signed 31-year old righty reliever Ramon Ramirez to a minor league deal.  Ramirez pitched in 58 games (0 starts) for the Mets last year and he was 3-4 with 1 save, a 4.24 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP.  He has now pitched in 417 games (0 starts) in his first seven years in the majors and he is 23-21 with 9 saves, a 3.32 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP.  Ramirez has pitched two seasons in San Francisco in his career, working in 91 games (0 starts) in which he was 4-3 with 5 saves, a 2.07 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP.  Ramirez was traded to the Mets along with outfielder Andres Torres in return for Angel Pagan.  Now the Giants have all three of them on the team for the 2013 season.  This was a good signing for the Giants as Ramirez will help them in the pen this year.

UPDATE:  (3/23/2013) - The Giants have released Ramon Ramirez.  Ramirez pitched in 8 games (0 starts) for the Giants in spring training and he was 0-0 with a 11.25 ERA and a 2.13 WHIP.

UPDATE II:  (3/29/2013) - The Giants have re-signed Ramon Ramirez to a minor league deal.

The Giants have claimed 28-year old switch-hitting infielder Tony Abreu off waivers from the Royals.  He played in 22 games for the Royals last year and he was 18 of 70 (.257 avg, .641 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 1 homer and 15 RBIs.  Abreu has now played in 168 games in his first four years in the majors and he is 110 of 437 (.252 avg, .635 OPS) with 40 runs scored, 4 homers, 46 RBIs and 2 stolen bases.  Abreu will get the shot to win a job on the Giants bench this spring.

UPDATE:  (3/30/2013) - Tony Abreu has been placed on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to March 22nd, due to a strained quad muscle.

The Giants have re-signed 32-year old switch-hitting outfielder Todd Linden to a minor league deal.  He played in 127 games in AAA-ball for the Giants last year and he was 119 of 425 (.280 avg, .817 OPS) with 63 runs scored, 11 homers, 66 RBIs and 3 stolen bases.  Linden last played in the majors back in 2007 for the Florida Marlins.  Linden has played in 270 games in his first five years in the majors and he is 116 of 502 (.231 avg, .638 OPS) with 64 runs scored, 8 homers, 36 RBIs and 8 stolen bases.  Linden will probably start the 2013 season in AAA-ball for the Giants.

The Giants have signed 25-year old righty starter/reliever Mason Tobin to a minor league deal. He didn’t pitch anywhere last year due to injury. His only major league experience came back in 2011 with the Texas Rangers. He pitched in 4 games (0 starts) for the Rangers in 2011 and he was 0-0 with a 6.75 ERA and a 1.88 WHIP. Tobin has pitched in 25 games (21 starts) in his first three years in the minors and he is 6-4 with 1 save, a 2.43 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP. Tobin was a hot prospect not so long ago, so the Giants might catch lightning in a bottle here.

The Giants have signed 31-year old lefty swinging infielder Kensuke Tanaka to a minor league deal. He played in 114 games in Japan last year and he was 137 of 457 (.300 avg, .713 OPS) with 49 runs scored, 3 homers, 32 RBIs and 13 stolen bases. In his last six years in Japan, Tanaka has played in 738 games in which he was 844 of 2,870 (.294 avg, .754 OPS) with 410 runs scored, 26 homers, 239 RBIs and 134 stolen bases. Tanaka will have a decent shot of winning a backup job for the Giants this spring.

The Giants have signed 36-year old righty reliever Scott Proctor to a minor league deal. He pitched over in Korea last year. He last pitched in the majors back in 2011 with the Braves and Yankees. Proctor has now pitched in 307 games (1 start) in his first seven years in the majors and he is 18-16 with 1 save, a 4.78 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP. Proctor will get a shot to win bullpen spot for the Giants next spring.