The Giants designated infielder Matt Downs for assignment to make room for Cody Ross, tweets Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News.
Downs, 26, struggled in the bigs over 148 career plate appearances in 2009-10. He played second base in the Majors, but has minor league experience at shortstop, third base, and the outfielder corners too. This year marked his third Triple A stint; his power slipped as he posted a .254/.348/.416 line in a half-season. Downs was still considered a prospect heading into the 2009 season, when Baseball America ranked him 24th on their Giants list and published praise from GM Brian Sabean.
