Giants Sign Bill Hall, Joe Panik

-- Well, the Giants have signed infielder Bill Hall. When your team is complete decimated by injuries, as the Giants have been, Hall becomes the answer. With his versatility on the field (played seven separate positions last year -- including pitcher...), he's a useful guy off the bench. But he's not really suited for regular playing time. He was worth -0.9 WAR in 46 games with the Astros prior to being released. Bay City Ball broke down the signing.

In the meantime, I'm worried about Freddy Sanchez. Per Mychael Urban --

Suffice to say, though, that whether it's a best-case scenario (no ligament damage) or worst-case (post-meat-grinder), we're looking at somewhere between "not a short time" and "can I move in with Buster?"

-- In other news, the Giants signed first-round draft pick Joe Panik. To be honest, I actually like the pick. He'll move fast through the system, has an excellent plate approach (good discipline), and could give the Giants some stability at shortstop or second base in the near future. His ceiling isn't as high as some of the other guys that were available at #29 overall, but I think there's a legitimate chance he'll turn into something of value -- like a Freddy Sanchez, or a Jed Lowrie.

While we're at it, some more links...

-- Baseball Nation looked at the possibility of Pablo Sandoval catching again.

This move would put a former catcher behind the plate for the first time since 2009 (three games) to keep Miguel Tejada in the lineup? That's not a reward worth the risk.

-- The New York Times Bats Blog has a nice story on Jeremy Affeldt and his commitment to helping.

-- Minor League Ball reviewed the San Francisco Giants' 2011 draft picks. (includes Joe Panik optimism!)