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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Los Angeles Dodgers sign Eugenio Velez, Godzilla comes to the Bay Area, Cliff Lee signs with Philadelphia Phillies

The Dodgers have reached an agreement with former Giants utility man Eugenio Velez to a minor league deal. Velez, 28, was non-tendered earlier in the month and was given numerous opportunities to succeed over the years. His career statistics are found here.

Although he occasionally sparked the Giants with his lightning speed and quick bat , his head spasms, defensive mishaps, and over-aggressive plate appearances posed a problem. One such occurrence cost the Giants an extra-inning game against Philadelphia early in 2010, where he dropped a Wilson Valdez fly ball.
That video can be found here. Also, check out this classic Eugenio moment where he lost track of how many outs there were. Don't forget when he got hit on the head by a foul ball.


Good luck with the Eugenio relationship, Dodgers. Still, I really liked him for some reason.


In other news, the A's finally got the potent bat they were looking for. According to Mlbtraderumors.com, the A's signed Hideki Matsui for a one-year $4.25 million dollar contract. Matsui, 36, hit .274 with 21 home runs last year with the angels. Not to mention, he has played postseason baseball with the Yankees, hitting a career .312 with 10 career home runs. He would serve primarily as the DH. Hopefully for the A's, he has a Frank Thomas-like impact on the team.


The A's have also been talking to Rich Harden, but Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle says that Harden appears to have better offers elsewhere. The A's are also talking to Justin Duchscherer.

In a surprising twist of events, Cliff Lee has signed with the Phillies for five years at 120 million. The Yankees and Rangers reportedly offered more money, according to Mlbtraderumors.com, but Lee preferred to play in a city he liked for less money, a rarity for athletes today. Damon Bruce of KNBR speculates that this will happen only ten times in a lifetime, and I have to agree with him. Money trumps location overwhelmingly. Just look at Carl Crawford for example. At least the Cliff Lee rumors can now be silenced.

Lastly, CSN Bay Area reported that World Series MVP Edgar Renteria was offered a 1 million dollar one-year contract by the Giants, but has not responded. Even Renteria's agent had a hard time getting a hold of Renteria. Although, from what I read and heard from Mlbtraderumors.com, Renteria is leaning toward re-signing with the Giants as a backup shortstop. If the Giants can get this done, it would be a solid low-risk move that would put experience back on the bench.

Next, I will be continuing my NL West preview with the Colorado Rockies. Will they have what it takes to win the West in 2011? Also, I will have something fun posted as well. Until then, the host stove is sizzling. 

Picture attribution: StormXor

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