Giants Release Wilson Valdez, Ramon Ramirez

The Giants have released Wilson Valdez and Ramon Ramirez, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports (on Twitter). Both players are now free agents.

Valdez and Ramirez had opt outs in their contracts with the team, Andrew Baggarly ‏of CSNBayArea reports (Twitter links). The Giants would like to re-sign Ramirez to a minor league deal if he doesn't find a better opportunity elsewhere.

Valdez, a client of Wasserman Media Group, appeared in 77 games for the Reds in 2012, playing shortstop, second base, third base and even center field. The 34-year-old posted a .206/.236/.227 batting line in 208 plate appearances with Cincinnati.

The Giants signed Ramirez to a minor league deal last month. He appeared in 58 games for the Mets in 2012, posting a 4.24 ERA with 7.4 K/9 and 4.9 BB/9 in 63 2/3 innings out of the bullpen. The 31-year-old had a 46.7% ground ball rate and his fastball averaged 91.1 mph, according to FanGraphs.