The Giants have signed 30-year old righty swinging 2B/SS/3B Juan Uribe to a 1-year deal. Uribe played in 122 games for the Giants last season and he was 115 for 398 (.289 avg, .824 OPS) with 50 runs scored, 16 homers and 55 RBIs. He has now played in 1,108 games in his major league career and he is 985 for 3,836 (.257 avg, .729 OPS) with 482 runs scored, 127 homers, 514 RBIs and 38 stolen bases. I have to think that the Giants promised him a shot to compete for the starting 3B while DeRosa maybe moving to LF. Even if this is the case the Giants still need to get one more solid bat to play RF.

The Giants have signed 34-year old righty swinging IF/OF Mark DeRosa to a 2-year, $12 million dollar deal. DeRosa played in 139 games for the Indians and Cardinals last season and he was 129 for 515 (.250 avg, .752 OPS) with 78 runs scored, 23 homers and 78 RBIs. He has now played in 1,032 games in his 12 years in the majors and he is 869 for 3,165 (.275 avg, .767 OPS) with 484 runs scored, 92 homers, 430 RBIs and 21 stolen bases. The Giants will likely start DeRosa at 3B and shift Pablo Sandoval across the diamond to 1B. It’s also possible that the Giants could shift DeRosa to the outfield if they ink another 1B or 3B. I like this move for the Giants who need all of the offense they can get so they don’t waste the great pitching they are going to get in 2010.

The Giants have signed 26-year old righty reliever/starter Eric Hacker to a minor league deal. Hacker pitched in 3 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball last season and he was 0-0 with a 6.00 ERA and a 2.00 WHIP. He also pitched in 27 games (all starts) last season in AA+AAA ball and he was 6-7 with a 4.45 ERA and a 1.54 WHIP. Hacker will start the season in AAA and he might help the Giants at some point in 2010.

The Giants have decided not to tender a contract for the 2010 season to 28-year old righty swinging 1B Ryan Garko. Garko played in 40 games for the Giants after coming over in a trade with the Indians last summer and he was 27 for 115 (.235 avg, .638 OPS) with 10 runs scored, 2 homers and 12 RBIs. The Giants weren’t impressed with Garko too much and they will likely bring in a better hitter to replace him in 2010.

The Giants have signed 28-year old righty swinging/throwing SS/P Tony Pena to a minor league deal. Pena played in 40 games for the Royals last season and he was 5 for 51 (.098 avg, .250 OPS) with 3 runs scored and 2 RBIs. He has now played in 327 games in his major league career and he is 189 for 829 (.228 avg, .548 OPS) with 95 runs scored, 4 homers, 66 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. I could be wrong here (but I’m probably not) that the Giants are looking at him as a relief pitcher. He pitched 1 scoreless inning for the Royals during the 2008 season. Last year he pitched in 10 games (3 starts) in A+AA+AAA ball and he was 1-2 with a 2.33 ERA and a 0.93 WHIP. He whiffed 18 batters while only allowing 12 hits in 19 1/3 innings in the minors last season. The Giants will give him a legit shot to make the bullpen in spring training. This is a nice low risk/high reward signing for the Giants.