News from Henry Schulman, Giants' beat writer

Seems there's a little interest in recently unsigned third-sacker, Ty Wiggington. Wigginton belted 20+ homers last year, albeit in the comfy cozy confines of Houston's Enron-Minute Maid Park. A far cry from AT&T's manly dimensions that always include the obstacle of weather.

But beat writer, Henry Schulman has some information that may be of interest to Giants fans.

The player's name is Jesus Guzman.

Guzman is 24-years old, who is positioned at third base in the Venezuelan League, won the Texas League batting title in 2008 and he just set a Venezuelan League record by driving in 57 runs. He has 11 homers for the Caracas Lions, which is one short of the league lead co-held by Pablo Sandoval.

The Giants recently signed Guzman, by offering more money than crosstown Oakland, to a minor league contract and invited him to Spring Training.

Of course, you cannot overplay this because numbers in the Venezuelan League or Mexican League are a bit different than those of the major leagues. For example, Neifi Perez was a superstar in these leagues. And even though he proved to be a slick fielder he has proven to be anything but a consistent, reliable hitter in the majors. So, by all means, keep that in mind.

The one thing Jesus Guzman has over Neifi is that Jesus has never been known for his glove-work. Which could mean he is the real deal when he steps into the batter's box. Now if the Giants can find someone to work on his fielding enough so they won't have to hide him (because we Giants' fans know, the BALL WILL SURELY FIND HIM). Kind of like a late inning replacement. It always seems the ball is hit their way.

(thanks to beat writer Henry Schulman)

Kevin Marquez