Hot off the BaggsPress:
Kevin Frandsen was called into Bruce Bochy’s office this morning and left in street clothes. The Giants just gave the official word: he has been optioned and will begin the season at Triple-A Fresno. All signs pointed to this yesterday.
Jesus Guzman confirmed he has been reassigned to minor league camp. He’ll go to Fresno but wasn’t told what position he’ll be playing. That’s TBD by Brian Sabean.
Brandon Medders and Justin Miller also received bad news this morning. Miller confirmed that both have been reassigned. Will check back when there’s something official.
There’s some chatter regarding if Frandsen has any options left. I’m not sure, anyone out there know? The Giants are prepared to head into the 2009 season with Burriss as the starting second baseman. I expect Bochy will make a statement sometime today. I’m also surprised to see Miller and Medders get reassigned. I expected Miller to make the team and maybe Medders, too. Luis Perdomo’s chances are probably pretty good right now.
I’ll update with more details as they are released. I’m wondering how Fransden’s career will shape out now? He’ll be 27-years-old and still in AAA.
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Update: Things just get getting more interesting. Again, from Baggs.
We just chatted with Bruce Bochy and through his comments, along with some divining, we basically have the Giants’ 25-man roster. Here it is:
Starting pitchers (5): Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Randy Johnson, Barry Zito, Jonathan Sanchez
Relievers (7): Brian Wilson, Jeremy Affeldt, Bob Howry, Alex Hinshaw, Merkin Valdez, Luis Perdomo, long man to be determined (Keiichi Yabu, Ramon Ortiz are the top in-house options).
Catchers (1): Bengie Molina.
Infielders (6): 1B Travis Ishikawa, 2B Emmanuel Burriss, SS Edgar Renteria, 3B/C Pablo Sandoval, INF Rich Aurilia, INF Juan Uribe.
Outfielders (6): CF Aaron Rowand, RF Randy Winn, LF Fred Lewis, Nate Schierholtz, Andres Torres, Eugenio Velez.
That’s a bunch of OF’s (6!) and UTIL players (2!) to have on one roster. Both Torres and Velez making the team is kinda weird since they are basically the same-ish player. Torres might be better defensively but he is a minor league journeyman. And, maybe the most shocking thing of all, is that the Giants aren’t going to carry a back-up catcher right now. Instead, they’ll give Pablo Sandoval a crash course in the final weak of Spring Training and let him back-up Bengie. If it’s one thing the Giants can’t seem to make up their mind about, it’s whether or not they like Sandoval at catcher. Lot’s of back-and-forth on that one.
I’m not sure I get having two utility players in Uribe and Aurilia — they are both pretty much the same thing. I’m going to anticipate a ton of double-switching this year. The rest of the blog post on Extra Baggs is really solid and it’s answers some other roster questions. Go check it out.

