Getting back online after a week hiatus, so we won’t be doing any heavy lifting today. Instead, I’ll be posting a few Giants-related links. Let’s check them out.

~ The Giants avoided arbitration with LHP Jack Taschner with a 1-year deal worth $835K. Here’s something you might not know, Taschner will be 31-years-old next season. He made his debut in 2005 for the Giants but before that, he pitched 5 seasons in the minor leagues and lost a couple of years because of injury. Aside from the 22 innings that Taschner pitched in 2005, he hasn’t been very good, yet from 2006-2008 he’s made the most relief appearances — with 154 — of anyone in the Giants bullpen. Taschner could get dropped this season if he can’t pull it together because the Giants won’t go to arbitration with him again. I’d rather see one of the NRI’s — Justin Miller — or the Rule-5 draft selection — Luis Perdomo — get a chance to fill the bullpen.

~ There’s a good discussion going on over at McCovey Chronciles regarding the WBC and whether or not you like the idea of your team’s players competing in the tournament. Giants players playing in the tournamet include: Jonathan Sanchez, Pablo Sandoval, Jesus Guzman, Bengie Molina, Sharlon Schoop, Brooks McNiven, and Andres Torres. You can find the complete listing of players by club, here. I can understand the worry, Jonathan Sanchez should be a big part of the Giants rotation — we’ve got him projected to be as valuable as Randy Johnson — and you pray that he doesn’t get Luis Alya’d.

~ Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Propspectus has posted his Top-11 Giants prospect list. Overall, I pretty much agree with the majority of the list. He lists the top three Giants prospects as: Madison Bumgarner, Buster Posey, and Angel Villalona. A very solid top three for a much improved farm system.

~ I posted a new article on Beyond the Box Score this morning about Omar Vizquel. He’s close to signing with the Rangers and could play a backup SS/UTIL position for them next season. My question was: Does his defense help him break the replacement level barrier? Click to find out.

Hopefully by the end of the week I’ll get rolling again with analysis and what not.