Velez and Burriss Set to Deliever the Giant's Promise of Youth

By trading Ray Durham to Milwaukee this weekend the Giants finally began the youth movement they had been promising since announcing the departure of Barry Bonds last August. Durham, the Giant with the longest tenure on the active roster waived his no trade clause and was traded to the visiting Brewers Sunday for two minor league prospects.

Giants fans have been asking who these young prospects are, and the truth is, for now it doesn't matter. The important part of the trade is the playing time it frees up for Eugenio Velez and Emmanuel Burriss.

While the buzz has been about the future of the Velez, Burriss has been putting up the numbers that are turning heads in the organization. He is hitting just below .300 and has show patience at the plate to complement the defensive gems he has turned in at both second and shortstop. He has made the decision to start the season with Brian Bocock at shortstop look as stupid as most of us thought it was, and has stirred talks of the slumping Omar Vizquel taking a permanent backup spot sometime this week.

Burriss has turned in a steady performances, however, Manager Bruce Bochy has stated that Velez will be the starter in the wake of the Durham trade. While his average is barely above .200 he has so many tools the Giants are hoping to refine before next year. His speed is blazing; he led the Spring Training Cactus league in steals and any ball in the outfield gaps has this young speedster thinking triple right out of the box.

Velez’s bat is better than his average reflects. He is a switch hitter that possesses good pop for such a small guy. His patience could use some work, but his pitch recognition seems to be much better than it was before his mid-season demotion to AAA Fresno.

The only thing holding this young prospect back is his defense. A quick moving prospect through the organization Velez has bounced from position to position. In Spring he was playing three infield positions and some outfield. He has been playing second regularly now and the Giants seem to have made a commitment to him staying there. For the first time in years, the Giants have incorporated infield practice into their pre-game warm-ups for the benefit of its two young infielders.

Whether Velez or Burriss work out at the professional level or not, Giants fans are excited to see what they were promised almost a year ago, youth. Just having these guys on the roster was not enough and applause is due to Brian Sabean for making the move to these young kids that have earned a shot at next years starting spots.