San Francisco Giants Re-sign Guillermo Mota, 2011 Season Thoughts

The Giants have agreed to re-sign hard-throwing righty Guillermo Mota to a minor-league contract. The Los Angeles Dodgers and Tampa Bay Rays were reportedly going after Mota, but he decided to ultimately return to the world champion San Francisco Giants.

The 37-year-old Mota posted a 4.33 ERA in 56 games with San Francisco, including 2.1 scoreless innings in the postseason. Even during the playoffs, Mota had a mid-90's fastball.

Mota was serviceable out of the bullpen in 2010. When Brian Wilson was unavailable to close, Mota stepped up and got the job done. One of his notable outings was a dominant win out of the bullpen against the Dodgers when Brian Wilson was unable to pitch the ninth. Highlights from that outing can be found here

This is a good deal. You get an experienced veteran out of the bullpen for virtually minimum salary. He can come through nicely in a mop-up roll or can even fill a more important gap if a setup man or closer got hurt. Let's just hope he doesn't face Juan Uribe too much if he indeed makes the big club.

Most importantly, he does not walk people, which is a recipe for success out of the bullpen.

Although I'm all for bringing back as much as the 2010 championship team as possible, the Giants need to get some youth, speed, and energy into the lineup. Cody Ross provided a little bit of that at the end of the season, but the Giants can still upgrade at left field and third base, granted Sandoval doesn't lose weight. Pat Burrell, who played the bulk of the time in left field, is a good player and can contribute, but his inability to put the bat on the ball in the World Series was worrisome.

As for Edgar Renteria, I think it is fine to bring him back as a back-up infielder, but for no more than the $1 million they offered. He, like Mota, can fill a hole if say Freddy Sanchez or Miguel Tejada were lost to injury. He can be a short-term solution, since he is streaky, but is not ideal for a starting role. Still, he has a flare for the clutch as shown by the World Series, and his game-tying home run during the home opener. Despite him feeling disrespected about the Giants' contract offer, Renteria needs to realize the Giants did anything but that, considering they were the only team thus far to offer him a major league contract.

What do you guys think the Giants should do to improve their team for 2011? Please leave a comment below. I am curious to hear your thoughts.

Photo courtesy of Anthony Zappia

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