Giants Release Ramon Ortiz

The Giants have released Ramon Ortiz, reports Hank Schulman of The San Francisco Chronicle (on Twitter). The Praver/Shapiro client signed a minor league deal with the Giants last month.

Ortiz, 39, appeared in 22 games for the Cubs last year, posting a 4.86 ERA with 6.8 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 in 33 1/3 innings. The 11-year MLB veteran also made 16 starts at Triple-A, completing 99 1/3 innings with the Iowa Cubs. Ortiz struck out eight and allowed just three earned runs in 10 2/3 innings this spring, so there's a chance he'll hook on elsewhere.

The Giants would have owed Ortiz a $100K retention bonus had they kept him in the organization past a certain date thanks to the new collective bargaining agreement, notes Andrew Baggarly of CSN Bay Area (on Twitter).