33-year old righty swinging LF Pat Burrell is proving to be quite the stealth signing for the Giants earlier this year. They felt that his struggles at DH were because he needed the edge of playing in the field and they were right. Burrell has played in 59 games for the Giants this year and he is 49 of 176 (.278 avg, .910 OPS) with 27 runs scored, 12 homers and 32 RBIs. Burrell has now played in 83 games for the Giants & Rays overall in 2010 and he is 66 of 260 (.254 avg, .818 OPS) with 36 runs scored, 14 homers and 45 RBIs. The Giants need all the offense they can muster so they need Burrell to finish the year strongly.

The Giants have placed 28-year old righty reliever Chris Ray on the 15-day disabled list with a right intercostal strain. Ray has pitched in 20 games (0 starts) for the Giants this year and he is 3-0 with 1 save, a 5.40 ERA and a 1.60 WHIP. The Giants have activated 31-year old lefty reliever Jeremy Affeldt off the D.L. to replace Ray in the pen. Affeldt has pitched in 37 games (0 starts) for the Giants this year and he is 2-3 with 3 saves, a 4.11 ERA and a 1.66 WHIP.

The Giants have acquired 34-year old righty swinging outfielder Jose Guillen and cash from the Royals for a player to be named later.  Guillen played in 106 games for the Royals this year and he was 101 of 396 (.255 avg, .743 OPS) with 46 runs scored, 16 homers and 62 RBIs.  He has now played in 1,608 games in his 14 years in the majors and he is 1,557 of 5,760 (.270 avg, .762 OPS) with 739 runs scored, 211 homers, 872 RBIs and 31 stolen bases.  The plan appears to be to start Guillen in RF and move Aubrey Huff back to 1B.  I like this move for the Giants who continue to tweak the roster in an attempt to overtake the Padres in the N.L. West.

The Giants are very pleased with how well 27-year old righty reliever Sergio Romo has pitched this year. Romo has pitched in 48 games (0 starts) for the Giants this year and he is 5-3 with a 2.11 ERA and a 0.96 WHIP. He has only allowed 35 hits in 47 innings this season for the Giants and he has 49 strikeouts showing just how nasty his stuff is. Romo has been a solid set-up man this year making games more like 7 innings with Brian Wilson coming in behind him.

The Giants have acquired 30-year old lefty swinging 2B/3B Mike Fontenot from the Cubs for 22-year old righty swinging outfielder Evan Crawford. Fontenot played in 75 games for the Cubs this year and he is 48 of 169 (.284 avg, .734 OPS) with 14 runs scored, 1 homer, 20 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He has now played in 422 games in his five years in the majors and he is 276 of 1,025 (.269 avg, .757 OPS) with 130 runs scored, 22 homers, 132 RBIs and 12 stolen bases. Evan Crawford is not a very highly thought of prospect. He played in 109 games in A-ball for the Giants this year and he was 110 of 432 (.255 avg, .684 OPS) with 64 runs scored, 4 homers, 29 RBIs and 24 stolen bases. Crawford played in 156 games in two years in the minors for the Giants and he was 164 of 612 (.268 avg, .706 OPS) with 101 runs scored, 5 homers, 59 RBIs and 38 stolen bases. Fontenot’s versatility and bat will make him a welcome addition to the Giants down the stretch.