5th in series - middle infielders

[west coast orange and black]

this is the fifth in a series of weekly stories on mlb.com examining the giants, position by position.

middle infielders

"The word was the 38-year-old Venezuelan had lost a step or two and making a long throw to first from deep in the hole was problematic, yet 2005 proved Vizquel still has a boyish look and young body, as he led Major League shortstops with a .98802 fielding percentage, establishing a Giants franchise mark.

"Durham had multiple leg problems in 2004, a left patellar (knee) strain and left hamstring strain, and it was theorized the infielder -- injury-free his first eight Major League seasons -- needed to alter his training as he aged.

"Among changes, Durham said he learned play smarter, to throttle down his speed on routine grounders, not go all-out all the time. It paid off, and manager Felipe Alou expects "a great year" from the veteran."
-rich draper, mlb.com
here is the story ( http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060131&content_id=1304505&vkey=news_sf&fext=.jsp&c_id=sf)



and in case you missed 'em, here are the 4 prior mlb.com installments on the giants:

the starting rotation (http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060111&content_id=1294115&vkey=news_sf&fext=.jsp&c_id=sf)

relief pitching (http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060103&content_id=1290877&vkey=news_sf&fext=.jsp&c_id=sf)

catching (http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060118&content_id=1297500&vkey=news_sf&fext=.jsp&c_id=sf)

corner infielders (http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060124&content_id=1300216&vkey=news_sf&fext=.jsp&c_id=sf)

[KHenry14]

Omar did everything we asked and more. And he seems to be in outstanding shape. Ray-Ray did end up playing a lot of games last year, and had a terrific second half hitting in the 5 slot a lot of the time.

I'm not worried about Omar, but this is probably the last year for Durham as Frandsen is waiting in the wings. Let's hope Ray has a fine season and doesn't go out like Grissom did last year. :o

KH14

[west coast orange and black]

poor gus. he battled three years of leg injuries but simply could no longer run.
this does look like durham's final season as frandsen will push the issue for giants brass with a solid 2006.