Prior to the Rule 5 draft, Reina and Jon Coutlangus, among others, were added to the 40-man roster. Later, when the Giants signed Jose Vizcaino, they DFA'd Brian Burres to make room. Burres was claimed by Baltimore, had a solid year as a starter in Triple A, and pitched well in relief with the Orioles this September. Vizcaino, meanwhile, well...

Then, when Jamie Wright was signed, Coutlangus was DFA'd to make room, Cincinnati claimed him and he had a terrific year in Double A (.185 BAA, 56 K's in 63 IP, 2.11 G/F ratio) and is now in the Arizona Fall League.

As I recall, Irwin, Steve and others questioned the Coutlangus move at the time - since losing him in the Rule 5 would have required the other team to keep him on their 25-man roster (a real stretch for a converted outfielder with one season of A-ball pitching experience), whereas claiming him on waivers only required keeping him on the 40-man, which the Reds did.

Reina was added last year after a great winter in Venezuela, following a not-great year at San Jose in 2005. At the time it was hard to see why, since losing him in the Rule 5 wasn't likely - it didn't look like he could have possibly made another team's major-league roster. You had to assume then (or hope) that the Giants see him as such a terrific prospect that they just don't want to risk it. Clearly, though, his star has since dimmed. Burres, on the other hand, will likely be in the O's pen next year rather than having a good shot at helping out ours.

An unrelated note: I see in BA that the Giants have signed Erik Meyers, the former Eastern Washington qb who they drafted in 2004 (37th round) and again in 2005 (30th). He was 17-3 as a starting pitcher his last 2 years at La Mirada High School in Orange County, and I remember reading somewhere that the Giants clocked him in the 90's, peaking at 96, in a tryout some time ago.