Angel Pagan for Andres Torres and Ramon Ramirez

Another trade has happened with the Giants, and it looks to be the last major acquisition of the off-season.  Angel Pagan, the centerfielder and leadoff man for the New York Mets is coming to San Francisco, along with a player to be named later and some amount of cash, in exchange for journeyman and fan-favorite Andres Torres and Ramon Ramirez, a solid bullpen arm.  The Giants didn't see much value in Torres after having a downright terrible 2011 season after a breakout 2010 year.  And Ramon Ramirez was an expendable bullpen arm in already dominant bullpen with other righties such as Santiago Casilla and Sergio Romo, both who have ridiculous numbers.  The more innings they can pitch, the better the bullpen will be.

Now let's take a look at our new toy, Angel Pagan.

2011 Stats: .262 BA, .322 OBP, 7 HR, 32 SB, 56 RBI

Now, as you can see, these numbers don't jump off the page at you.  Angel Pagan had a down season in 2011 after having a very nice 2010 campaign (.290 BA, .340 OBP, 11 HR, 37 SB, 69 RBI).  But, Angel Pagan does give us a leadoff guy that we were desperately in need for.  Pagan has very good speed, with 69 stolen bases over the last two years, and throughout his career has hit for a decent batting average.  Having a guy with speed at the top of the lineup that could actually hit was something that the Giants were missing last year.  They cycled through many different players, Cody Ross, Andres Torres, and Aaron Rowand to name a few.  But the fact of the matter is that there wasn't one guy that you could say was the definitive leadoff guy.  And now, the Giants have that guy.  I'll agree as much as anyone else that this was a steep price to pay for someone of Pagan's cailber especially in a market that is in desperate need of solid relievers like Ramirez.  But, perhaps the Giants management saw something in Pagan that they saw in the like of the other great diamonds in the rough they've found over the past few years... i.e. Ryan Vogelsong, Aubrey Huff, Pat Burrell, Cody Ross.

If I was manager, and what I think the best lineup to put out there right now would be:

1. Angel Pagan CF

2. Freddy Sanchez 2B

3. Buster Posey C

4. Pablo Sandoval 3B

5. Melky Cabrera LF

6. Nate Schierholtz RF

7. Aubrey Huff 1B

8. Brandon Crawford SS

Doesn't look too pretty, but it's what Giants fans are going to be stuck with.  Brian Sabean, the general manager has made it quite clear that they are not going after any free agents i.e. no Beltran, no Cody Ross.  The last thing they are going to do is tender a contract to either Keppinger or Fontenot, which is not a huge move by any stretch of the imagination.  I would have LOVED to see Beltran back in a Giants uniform again, but that ship has sailed with these two trades.   If anything, this just gets me more excited for the baseball season coming up in the spring.  The most fascinating thing to watch will be whether these risky moves (Melky Cabrera and Angel Pagan) will pay off or not.  It's like watching a poker hand being revealed.  The question is, do we have pocket aces, or mismatched number cards?