Little Bits of Stuff

News on some former Giants...

• Andres Galaragga has retired from baseball. I haven't seen a confirmed reason why as of yet, but I'm assuming for the moment it was the Big Cat beating the Mets to the punch -- whether that "punch" was releasing him or assigning him to the minors, I'm uncertain. I still think Galaragga would have been a better hitter than Doug Mientkiewicz, but I'm not sure by how much, and obviously Mientkiewicz is much better defensively than the chunk-over-40 Galaragga could be at his age. Here's to hoping that an AL team with a need for a DH picks up Big Cat sometime this season so he can whack his 400th career home run. It wouldn't really mean much overall, but if it's what Galaragga wants, then it's what I want for him. Good luck, Big Cat.
• Armando Rios is a free agent. Again, I'm unsure -- in this case, I don't know if the Minnesota Twins released him, or he refused their minor league assignment...doesn't matter really. For those teams who want an acceptable defensive right fielder who can draw a walk with a little pop in his bat on the cheap, I'm sure Rios is available. He actually had a three season stretch where he posted a well-over .800 OPS in about 700 at-bats, so it's not as if he's never done anything...it's just that the three season stretch was over three years ago, that's all.
• Tom Goodwin was released by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, which is enough insult in and of itself, so I'll refrain from any wisecracks.
• Chad Zerbe...no, he wasn't released, merely sent to the minors by the Cleveland Indians. This is the Silver Lining in the Dark Cloud of this entry. Zerbe's still got a team, at least.
• Last, and definitely least, it looks as if ol'Sidney Ponson just can't stay out of the bad news for long -- now it comes out that he was the recipient of a DWI back in January. By itself, I don't consider the DWI to be a big deal, but when coupled with the fights...well, one is an accident, two is a coincidence, three is a trend. I'm just surprised Ponson didn't try to fight the cop that pulled him over and get himself clubbed with a nightstick for his trouble. I think Ponson ought to consider diving headfirst into a wall in order to improve his intelligence level.