Why couldn't the Giants pick up Joel Piniero as insurance?

I saw that the Phillies picked him up and it kind of made me cringe. Despite the lack of good major league team signings, the team has also sucked it up in minor league signings such as Piniero. Hope we can find a few old gems before the offseason is up to protect the likes of Zito and Surkamp if they fail miserably. Beyond that, who else do we have in regards to pitching insurance? A minor league deal with a potentially washed up pitcher is not a bank breaker.