Giants sign Ortiz (no, not Russ)

Henry Schulman
SFGate

In a move that probably has more impact for the Fresno Grizzlies than the Giants, the team signed 35-year-old right-hander Ramon Ortiz to a minor-league contract with a spring-training invite.

This is one of those what-have-we-got-to-lose? deals. Ortiz, once a pretty good pitcher with the Angels, went to Japan last year and struggled (4-7, 5.82 in 17 starts for the Orix Bluewave). He split time with Minnesota and Colorado the year before.

If nothing else, Ortiz adds depth to the Grizzlies' roster and, depending on how he throws down there, gives the Giants an insurance option if they need a spot starter.

UPDATE: Chris Haft at MLB.com reported Ortiz actually will compete for a bullpen job.

See, Chris used a conniving, sophisticated and secret reporter's trick to learn that. He picked up the phone and made a call.

I was at the hardware store doing one of the 100 things I had all winter to do but always wait until the last minute to do before spring training when I got the heads-up on Ortiz. So I got home and rushed the Ortiz note onto the blog and speculated he would start.

My bad. It won't happen again, unless I'm at the car wash when they sign Manny.