Giants designate Vin Mazzaro for assignment, add Albert Suarez to roster

Vin Mazzaro will always have a special place in Giants history. No, a special place in our hearts. He's now the all-time franchise leader in ERA, which is hard to do for a 133-year-old organization. It takes hard work and bad luck. Live fast, get designated young, and leave a good-looking ERA, that's what I say. The Giants designated Mazzaro for assignment on Friday, adding Albert Suarez to the roster.

First, some housekeeping: Andrew Suarez is a recent draft pick and rising prospect. This is not Andrew Suarez. This is Albert, a 26-year-old who came over as a minor-league free agent from the Angels' system. He has a career strikeouts-per-nine-inning mark of 5.9, despite only 25 innings above Double-A. He's a command/control guy who doesn't miss a lot of bats, not unlike Mazzaro.

Not unlike Mazzaro, he wrote, as a wolf howled in the background.

Mostly, the move is about getting a fresh arm for this weekend, as Mazzaro's inability to give the Giants meaningful mop-up work taxed the rest of the bullpen. They need a Generic Arm, which is why Mazzaro was up in the first place. If Suarez throws 50 pitches to get two outs in a blowout tonight, we'd probably see yet another Generic Arm added to the roster tomorrow

LET'S NOT TEST THIS THEORY. For now, welcome Andrew Suarez, who sort of won the minor-league free agent lottery. He was about 17th on the depth chart when the season began. Good work, baseball. Way to keep us on our toes.