How They Got Here: The San Francisco Giants is a
one-by-one look at how each member of the 2012 World Series Champion San
Francisco Giants found their way to the squad. We'll look at all of the
players on the roster, as well as notable players who did not make the
postseason roster for whatever reason and the coaching staff and general
manager. Part five talks about reliever Jose Mijares.
Jose Mijares was born October 29, 1984, in Caracas, Venezuela. His schooling records are not listed, and he was undrafted before being signed in 2002 by the Minnesota Twins are the age of 17. In 2004, he made his first appearance in North American baseball, playing with the Gulf Coast League Twins in Fort Myers, Florida at the rookie level. In 2005, he advanced to the Class A Beloit Snappers of Beloit, Wisconsin, in the Midwestern League. He pitched reasonable well here, and earned a little time later in the season with the Fort Myers Miracle back in Fort Myers, Florida. His strong but limited showing here kept him assigned to the Class A Advanced team for 2006 as well, where he posted similar numbers as the year before. In 2007, he split time between the Class AA New Britain Rock Cats of New Britain, Connecticut in the Eastern League, where he continued to be successful, before struggling in an audition with the Class AAA Rochester Red Wings of the International League. The next season, he bounced all around, spending time with the GCL Twins, the Fort Myers Miracle, and the Rock Cats, where he posted strong numbers throughout the year regardless of where he found himself pitching. He also earned a September call-up to the big league Twins, appearing in ten games between September 13th and the end of the season, with much success. Mijares played only a handful of games with Rochester in 2009, before spending most of the season with the Minnesota Twins. Mijares again was successful, pitching to a 2.34 earned run average over 61 and 2/3 innings, while notching 55 strikeouts. Mijares again found himself in Rochester to start the 2010 campaign, but quickly found his way back to Minnesota, although his workload was cut in half in comparison to the previous season, and he had a few more issues statistically. In both 2009 and 2010, Mijares was in the postseason, pitching in five games at an average level. Mijares spent all of 2011 with the Twins as well, earning his roster spot from spring training. His effectiveness slipped in his third full major league season, and his earned run average ran above 4.50 for the first time in the majors. The Twins also failed to make the postseason that year, and on December 12, 2011, he was granted free agency for the first time in his career. Nine days later, Mijares was signed by the Kansas City Royals for the 2012 season. He proved to only need a change of scenery to regain his form from two years previous, posting a 2.56 earned run average with the Royals. However, Kansas City placed him on waivers, and he was claimed by the San Francisco Giants on August 6th, where he made himself an integral part of their bullpen. His statistics with the Giants were nearly identical to those he had in Kansas City, and he easily found his way onto their postseason roster. This looked to be a mistake early on, as Mijares struggled to solve the Cincinnati Reds batters during the National League Division Series. He rebounded largely in the National League Championship against the St. Louis Cardinals, with his struggles now behind him, and he also handed the one out he needed to against the Detroit Tigers in the World Series, en route to the 4-0 sweep for the Giants. Mijares has established himself over the last five years as a very valuable arm out of the bullpen, and the Giants were keen to claim him to bolster the bullpen on their way to the championship.
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