According to the San francisco Chronicle John Bowker was optioned to AAA last night. No corresponding roster move was immediately announced, but it has been highly speculated that Pat "The Bat" Burrell will be the guy who takes his place on the roster.
It's kinda hard for me to get excited over the addition of a guy who's career BA is is .253. A guy who was released by the Tampa Bay Rays after batting .202 with 2 HRs in 84 ABs to start this season. All of this after he hit a whopping .221 last season. Bowker was hitting .207 in 82 ABs this season with 3 HRs. He did at least hit .342 with 22 HRs last season for AAA Fresno. I don't know what the Giants gain here. It seems to me that they swap 2 guys who are performing about the same. The only differences that I can see are A. Burrell bats right handed while Bowker is a lefty. B. Burrell is 7 years older than Bowker. C. Pat Burrell's wife is HOT!
But not so fast.
Mark Derosa went 3 for 4 while playing DH for the Grizzlies last night. He did show a little pop by hitting one double and he had an RBI. This development is somewhat surprising since the other night after going 0 for 4 for single A San Jose, DeRosa really sounded like he was convinced that he would not be back with the team until after he had another surgery. Could the Giants be delaying the roster move until after DeRosa tests his wrist on the morning after? I'm not sure but I guess stranger things have happened.
I'm becoming increasingly perplexed with the Giants roster moves. If Burrell joins the club like a lot of people, including me, expect and DeRosa comes back from his injury then the Giants really have a dilemma. Edgar Renteria is also expected to come back from the DL in about a week or so and then some unpopular decisions have to be made.
If Renteria comes back first, the guy who gets sent down is almost assuredly Matt Downs. This will get some fans upset but if Renteria can play anything like he did before he was hurt then it will be a good move. If DeRosa comes back next, the Giants will have to make one of the most unpopular moves of the season. The outfield at that point would consist of: DeRosa, Rowand, Torres, Schierholtz, Burrell, and Huff. The guy who would appear to be the odd man out would be Schierholtz. However, if the Giants send nate down he would be Designated for Assignment and I'm not sure the Giants are quite ready to lose him. (although by the way they have handled him I'm not totally sure if that's true.)
So what happens?
That means Buster Posey goes back to Fresno. He has options and there is no way the Giants are going to release either Bengie Molina or Eli Whiteside. They said from the beginning that he was only up temporarily and they really want him to learn how to catch. Even though being mentored by Bengie would be the better way for that to happen but since these are the Giants, they do things whatever way they damn well please.
Down on the farm:
Eric Hacker took his third loss of the season, giving up 6 runs on 9 hits in 5.0 innings. He is now 7-3 with a 4.42 ERA after starting the season 7-1. He's been bumping around the minors for 7 seasons. This is his now or never moment. He started the season looking as if he may get called up before Madison Bumgarner but now he looks like a guy who has spent 7 seasons in the minors. If he can make an adjustment and get back to where he was a few weeks ago then he is still a prospect. However, if he has 2 or 3 more starts like this, he may not even be with the team any longer.
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