I was kinda hoping that Nate might try out some 3B in the AZL but I doubt it.  I don't think he's played there for a couple years and I doubt the Giants want to mess with him now.

Not necessarily true.  I don't know a whole lot about the reasoning/logic behind his move to the outfield, but he does have a pretty good arm and above average speed.  That sounds like an outfielder to most scouts, and that could be the primary reason he was moved out there.

Again, I don't know anything about the circumstances surrounding his move to the outfield.  This is just my speculation on the situation.

Baron, I'm curious what's made you bullish on Joe. As you may recall, I'm pulling hard for him because he was really nice to my very marginally talented teenage son when, by chance, we ended up assigned to him for pitching lessons at a local sports center here in New Jersey two winters ago. I also watched Joe throw some then and talked with him about his approach to pitching (Greg Maddux is his model). My take is that it's a long shot that he will make it all the way and that the absolute upside is marginal fifth starter, middle reliever. He'll need really superior control to go with his brains, good attitude and ok stuff. But, as we saw this year, he's not quite there.

Are those two mutually exclusive?  I'm not sure how the minor league portion of Rule 5 works.  I was a bit surprised when I found out we had lost Buscher by that route.  I mean, was there really no room for him on the Fresno roster or whatever roster he had to be on?  On the other hand, he certainly hadn't shown any signs of becoming the hitter the Giants seemed to think they had drafted while he was in their system.  

Maybe we all get too impatient with these guys?  John Bowker is another guy who looked for all the world like he wasn't going anywhere and then broke out this year in CT of all places. Ortmeier is another guy I left off my Giants Top 50 completely and look what he accomplished this year.  On the other hand, how many prospects who backslide in their progress recover to have a meaningful MLB career?  Not very many.

In short, I think Velez was a good pickup.  He's not the reason we let Buscher go.  We should have kept Buscher another season.

i doubt that Buscher amounts to much...leaving him unprotected was fine by me.....Jesse Floyd was ranked as #20 in SFG minors by Sickels before Twins took him- id rather have Floyd back

Does anyone know if they will televise the baseball World Cup?

I think that Romo and Pucetas did great but I have to give it to Romo. Romo had 2 more strikeouts in almost 90 innings less... and the fact that Romo wasnt even in SJ the whole season says so much more!