UPDATE: Giants VP Bobby Evans said Major League Baseball took Villalona off the restricted list and he is applying for his U.S. work visa now. Evans said the club is “not anticipating problems.” Original post below is updated throughout.

The Giants added six players to the 40-man roster to protect them from the Rule 5 draft, and the headliner is obvious: Former slugging first base prospect Angel Villalona, who hasn’t played in two years because he was charged with murder in the barroom slaying of a man in the Dominican Republic.

Villalona eventually had the charges dropped due to lack of evidence. (It’s been reported that witnesses changed their stories.) A few months ago, he sued the Giants in a Dominican court for $5 million for breach of contract. The team settled that suit. Now, apparently, Villalona is off the restricted list. Major League Baseball made that decision, allowing the Giants to purchase his contract.

He still must re-establish a U.S. work visa, which is no sure thing. Without that, he cannot begin his baseball career again.

Giants VP Bobby Evans said the club was “not anticipating problems, but at the same time, this certainly has a high profile nature to it. So i don’t want to pretend to know all the reasons for these decisions.”

Villalona signed as a 16-year-old in 2006 for $2.1 million, easily setting a club record for an international free agent. (Outfielder Rafael Rodriguez, a disappointment to this point, received $2.55 million two years later.)

Villalona is currently at the Giants’ complex in Santo Domingo, where he has shown off the same powerful swing that earned him the big bonus.

He is in the midst of trying to get in baseball shape to return to playing activity,” Evans said. “We’ve seen him swing the bat and he’s clearly got the bat speed. he’s got to get into baseball shape and that’s the hurdle in front of him right now.”

Villalona had taken personal leave home in September, 2009, to visit his mother while he was on the disabled list with a strained muscle in his leg. That’s when he was arrested in connection with a fatal shooting at a La Romana bar.

Charges were dropped earlier this year. Regardless, it’s believed there was much debate in the front office about whether to welcome Villalona back into the system. Ultimately, it’s fair to speculate that the lawsuit might have made some impact on the decision.

“This was very complex and I think it’s hard to summarize the process or the ultimate complexities involved,” Evans said. “The reality is, he’s a player that has been cleared under Dominican law of any involvement or wrongdoing and we are not the jury in that sort of case. We don’t have the benefit of all the facts — certainly not to the same degree as the Dominican legal system.

“A decision was made and we’ll focus on what our options are under the current scenario. He’s been cleared and taken off the restricted list by Major League Baseball. So we’re reacting to his current set of circumstances, just as we reacted in the past.”

Evans acknowledged that Villalona won’t be just another prospect in camp.

“There’s still a lot we have to learn about him on and off the field,” Evans said. “He knows he has a long process in front of him and he has a lot to prove. That process has just now begun for him.”

The Giants also protected OF Roger Kieschnick, 2B Charlie Culberson, RHP Dan Otero, RHP Hector Correa and OF Tyler Graham. Of those, only Graham was a major surprise to me. He’s an overachiever but is a favorite of Triple-A Fresno manager Steve Decker, has plus-plus speed and is ultra-aggressive on the basepaths.

The club took two players off the 40-man, including another speedy center fielder. Darren “the Bullet” Ford had trouble staying healthy and couldn’t compete well enough at the plate. He got designated for assignment along with right-hander Waldis Joaquin. The Giants already did this once to Joaquin and ended up re-signing him. We’ll see if that happens again.

Indeed, Evans said the moves don’t necessarily mean that the club won’t try to re-sign Ford and/or Joaquin to minor league contracts.

As for Graham over Ford?

“We brought in some other options for us,” Evans said. “Graham brings a lot of speed and ability in center field.”

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Here is a bit on Graham I wrote earlier this month for Baseball America. I was going to direct you to the link to this organizational report, but it doesn’t seem to be posted.

Tyler Graham stole 60 bases for Triple-A Fresno — 16 more than anyone else in the Pacific Coast League.

And yet he probably saw the red light more than any player on Manager Steve Decker’s roster.

“I had to red-light him most of the time, actually,” said Decker, whose club stole a league-high 209 bases. “He was so aggressive, he’d be flashing me the green light pretty much every time. I’d have to say, `No, Tyler, we’re down by three.’ But that’s his personality. He plays so hard.”

Graham’s hard-charging style hasn’t always worked to his benefit. His diving, wall-crashing escapades have led to injuries going back to Oregon State, when he helped lead the Beavers to consecutive national championships in 2005-06.

Oregon State coaches were stunned when Graham returned for his final season, turning down an offer from the Chicago Cubs after going in the 14th round of the ’05 draft. The Giants spent a 19th-round pick on him the following year.

Graham is 27, he lacks power and his arm is fringy in center field, but Decker calls him the organization’s best playmaker at the position – a true compliment, considering Gary Brown excelled at Single-A San Jose and Darren Ford can run down almost anything.

“Brown has great range and instincts, but nobody else will run into gap like (Graham can), leave his feet, climb a wall, you name it,” Decker said. “He makes game-changing plays.”

Graham didn’t have high school baseball while growing up in Great Falls, Montana. Maybe that’s why he never turns down a chance to play. After hitting .273/.337/.338 at Fresno, he immediately headed to play for Culiacan in the Mexican League.