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The San Francisco Giants went into the trading deadline needing to fill three obvious areas of deficiency: a lack of power in the lineup, a lack of depth on the bench and in the bullpen due to the loss of closer Brian Wilson earlier this season.

For Giants’ general manager Brian Sabean, two out of three wasn’t bad.

The late-inning reliever never materialized, because it didn’t exist. The relievers that the Giants were rumored to be interested in were ultimately not legitimate options to replace Santiago Casilla in the ninth inning.

Jonathan Broxton and Brandon League were the two biggest names that were moved on the relief market, and while both throw hard, neither misses enough bats to be considered an upgrade on Casilla. You can’t fault Sabean for failing to acquire bullpen help when the help that was out there wasn’t good enough to warrant selling part of the farm for.

Casilla has been awful over the past month, but his strikeout rate per nine innings (K/9) of 10.2 is much better than that of Broxton (6.31 K/9) or League (5.44 K/9).

In acquiring Marco Scutaro and cash from Colorado for minor league non-prospect Charlie Culberson, Sabean bought low on a player who is a good bet to bounce back in the second half. Scutaro struggled in Colorado, but the main culprit was simply bad luck. Despite an excellent line drive rate, Scutaro saw his batting average drop to .271 from .299 last season.

Scutaro struck out looking in a crucial at-bat on Monday night, but he’s also hitting .400 with a walk in three games since coming to the Giants. With Pablo Sandoval on the shelf, Scutaro is probably the best hitting infielder on the current roster. Giants’ manager Bruce Bochy is going to have a hard time keeping Scutaro out of the lineup when Sandoval returns.

When Sandoval comes back, the Giants could play Scutaro over the light-hitting Ryan Theriot at second base, over the similarly offensively-challenged Brandon Crawford at short, or they could leave Scutaro at third and replace struggling first baseman Brandon Belt with Sandoval. More likely, Scutaro will be a spot starter at all three infield positions, and a massive upgrade over Joaquin Arias and Manny Burriss, who was recently designated for assignment, on the bench.

While the acquisition of Scutaro did not garner the same excitement as Tuesday’s acquisition of Hunter Pence, the deal for Scutaro may turn out to be just as valuable given the low cost to pry him away from Colorado.

The Giants’ acquisition of Pence on Tuesday was more costly in terms of both cash and prospects, but it filled the huge need for thump in the middle of the lineup. The Giants entered Tuesday with the fewest home runs in baseball and the 25th worst slugging percentage.

Pence is having a down year, but his 17 home runs and .447 slugging percentage provide a huge boost to the middle of the Giants lineup. Like Scutaro, Pence is a solid bet to improve over the final two months of the season. His .784 OPS this season is down from his career .823 OPS, and way down from the .872 OPS he put up last season.

The Giants had to part with Nate Schierholtz, number two prospect Tommy Joseph and minor league pitcher Seth Rosin to get Pence. The cost was high, but with the Los Angeles Dodgers acquiring League, Hanley Ramirez and Shane Victorino before the deadline, the Giants were forced into action.

Sabean gets high marks for his deadline work, but that doesn’t automatically mean the Giants will hold off the Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks in the tight National League West race. All three teams are evenly matched on paper after the flurry of trade activity over the past week.

While I hated to see Joseph get dealt, Sabean did well to hold onto top prospect Gary Brown as well as all of the Giants’ top pitching prospects. In the end, he gets an ‘A’ for upgrading the roster without dealing Brown, Belt or any of the top arms in the system, and for getting a player in Pence who the Giants control for next season as well.

The only question left to answer is whether or not these moves are enough to hold off the surging Dodgers and Diamondbacks. If the Giants come up short, it won’t be for a lack of in-season activity by their tire-kicking general manager.

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The San Francisco Giants finally made a trade, just like we all knew they would.

No, they didn’t bring in Hunter Pence. No, Shin-Soo Choo isn’t coming to San Francisco. And no, Brandon League won’t be wearing a Giants uniform today.

However, Marco Scutaro will be. The AP reports that Scutaro has been traded to the Giants (h/t Fox News).

Scutaro is a versatile infielder who will likely fill in at third in Pablo Sandoval‘s absence. He has solid stats this year and will definitely help San Francisco’s slumping offense.

Here are three reasons why this trade makes the Giants the team to beat.

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After a disastrous September, Boston missed the postseason for the second straight season. We saw a major upheaval of the organization and the roster.

Theo Epstein and Terry Francona left.

Ben Cherington and Bobby Valentine are here.

The front office made several moves during the offseason to try and revamp the team with hopes of making a postseason run in 2012. This included letting players walk during free agency as well as trading players to try and give the team a new feel.

Here are six players that didn’t return to Boston after their epic collapse last season and have made strides to help their new teams.

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As reported over the past few days, it is now confirmed that now former Red Sox shortstop, Marco Scutaro will be headed to the Colorado Rockies, according to ESPNBoston. The Rockies look like they’ve found their solution at second base.

Scutaro, who is 36 years old, has been on the Red Sox since 2010. He has proven to be a very consistent part of the bottom of their lineup, hitting .275 in 2010 and .299 in 2011, Scutaro’s option was supposedly picked up from Boston, meaning he’d have earned $6 million in 2012.

However, it seems that Ben Cherington had other plans. Thus, the Rockies found their man.

In return, the Boston Red Sox acquired a former first-round sandwich draft pick in 2007, Clayton Mortensen. Mortensen, in three MLB seasons, has a career earned run average of 5.12 to go with a 4-8 record. He’s coming off of a 2-4 record with a 3.86 ERA last season. He has worked both as a starting pitcher and a relief pitcher throughout his career.

Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe tweeted that Mortensen will be viewed as a starting pitcher competing for a rotation spot at spring training. He will join the ranks of Aaron Cook, Vincent Padilla, Alfredo Aceves, Daniel Bard and Carlos Silva as potential starting pitchers.

Scutaro, on the other hand, will be the Rockies new starting second baseman, a position he has been playing inconsistently.

Evaluating this trade from the Red Sox perspective, you can’t help but scratch your head in confusion as to why they would trade their starting shortstop away. To answer anyone who is unaware, this trade simply rids the Red Sox of a $6 million contract to make room to sign either Roy Oswalt or outfielder Cody Ross.

On the surface, it seems to be a smart acquisition, but it is hard to be excited about leaving another gap in your lineup and depth chart. Much like the right field position, the shortstop position will now be occupied by Mike Aviles and Nick Punto, until Jose Iglesias is ready to join the club toward the end of the season.

This would not be as problematic if the right field position was already in serious question, being given to Darnell McDonald, Aviles and eventually Ryan Kalish.

Leaving two question marks in your field is not something of admiration, especially if it is only to bring in another starting pitcher, Roy Oswalt. If Scutaro’s trade leads to a new outfielder joining the fray, it will not be as bad.

However, do not get your hopes up for a breakout year for the average Clayton Mortensen. Despite being picked 36th overall in 2007, Mortensen brings an average presence to the table, despite having a good sinker.

With time and training, he could be a reliable asset, but hopes shouldn’t be high for him to make much of a difference in 2012.

Determining whether this was a good trade for Boston will all depend on what is next. Do they go out and bring in another starting pitcher or do they go out and fill the right field spot with a cheap quality player?

Honestly, if this is all to make room for Oswalt, I can’t help but be upset that we got rid of such a quality shortstop in Scutaro.

This move will be what Ben Cherington makes of it. He made some space financially and whatever the Red Sox end up signing is essentially what they get in return for our shortstop.

If the Sox can get an option better than Scutaro offensively for the outfield, it will be a pretty smart trade, but adding another pitcher would be a head-scratcher of a move, if not anything else.

It will certainly be interesting to see where Cherington goes from here, but if it is anywhere but where I mentioned, this was not a good trade by any stretch of the imagination.

Follow me on Twitter @Str8edgerallo

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Boston Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington made another trade this evening including shortstop Marco Scutaro. The Red Sox are sending Scutaro to the Colorado Rockies for Clayton Mortensen in order to clear up cap space, confirmed by Jim Bowden.

The deal allows Boston to go after more starting pitching help since Scutaro was owed $6 million this upcoming season. The initial reaction from Bowden is that Cherington will use this money to pursue Roy Oswalt.

Adding Oswalt would be an upgrade to a weak starting rotation, but now there is a huge gap at shortstop. The Red Sox traded Jed Lowrie to the Houston Astros to acquire reliever Mark Melancon earlier this offseason.

According to Gordon Edes, Boston feels comfortable using Mike Aviles and Nick Punto at short until prospect Jose Iglesias is ready to be called up. However, Bowden has just reported that Iglesias isn’t close to being ready and that Aviles is the only true option going forward.

Jose Iglesias only hit .235/.289/.269 in Triple-A Pawtucket last season and really needs to improve his offensive skills. His defense is good enough to make it at the major-league level, but his hitting is what’s holding him back.

There will be plenty of questions as to why Cherington felt the need to give up Scutaro in order to go for more starting pitching. Jerry Crasnick asks, if Boston wanted Oswalt so bad, then why would they sign an assortment of players to minor-league deals hoping that one would be their guy?

Scutaro was a solid player for Boston over the last two seasons on both sides of the baseball. In 263 games with the Red Sox, he hit .284/.343/.401 with 151 runs, 18 home runs and 110 RBI.

Another open position is the last thing Boston needs before spring training opens in a few weeks. They are still left with questions on the starting rotation, the outfield and now shortstop.

If Boston doesn’t end up getting Oswalt after dealing Scutaro away, Red Sox Nation will certainly not be happy with the new GM.

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Marco Scutaro was the “highlight” signing of 2009’s offseason. For those who are true fans and/or have played the game, you know that he was not the big solution. In fact, he should never have been signed in the first place. He is simply overpaid and overrated. If the Red Sox did want to sign him it should have been at a much cheaper annual salary. 

Fans were becoming increasingly frustrated with the product being put on the field. No disrespect to Boston‘s finest, David Ortiz, Kevin Youkillis, Jon Lester and Dustin Pedroia but the fans simply did not feel that the overall product being presented to them correlated to the ticket prices they had to pay (the highest in all of baseball). 

2010’s offseason was different. This offseason the Boston Red Sox were very busy and rightfully so. It is thought across the MLB that the Red Sox and the Phillies were the two teams that improved their teams the most this offseason. The Red Sox signed All-Star veterans Adrian Gonzalez (formerly of the San Diego Padres) and Carl Crawford (formerly of the Tampa Bay Rays). The Phils bolstered their starting pitching by signing Roy Halladay (formerly of the Toronto Blue Jays) and Cliff Lee (formerly of the Texas Rangers).

My question to you is…which player is better out of those the Red Sox signed and why? Is it the new Boston Left Fielder, speedy Carl Crawford or is it the always reliable, defensive machine Adrian Gonzalez?

Carl Crawford has tremendous speed, solid outfield play, a great bat and it seems like the only thing he can’t do is fly. Adrian Gonzalez is not quite as mobile but has more pop with his bat and is probably an even better defender at his position (1B) than Crawford is at his (LF). Gonzalez does not have much speed but he has a detailed goatee which gives him extra brownie points.

Gonzalez’s goatee aside and being completely serious, Carl Crawford seems to be the better overall player. It will be interesting to see them play on the same team as they should fuel one another’s game and they will likely have career years in 2011.

It’s an exciting time to be a Boston Red Sox fan.

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There was an excellent article about Marco Scutaro in today’s Boston Globe. Columnist Nick Cafardo crafted an insightful story in which he detailed the shortstop’s health issues last season, providing a considerable amount of behind-the-scenes information that fans had not previously known. But does that mean Scutaro should be the Red Sox’ starting shortstop in 2011?

To a certain extent, Cafardo’s column comes across as a piece prepared by the Red Sox PR staff, an article the team would want to distribute in order to minimize (end?) the debate as to whether Scutaro or Jed Lowrie should be the starter when the season starts in Texas late next week. I’m sorry to sound cynical. While I know Dr Charles Steinberg has left the building, the column has the doc’s fingerprints all over it.

The Sox’s front office has had a horrible track record since dealing Nomar Garciaparra at the trade deadline in 2004. There has been a procession of shortstops go through the proverbial revolving door ever since: Orlando Cabrera, Edgar Renteria, Julio Lugo, Alex Cora, Alex Gonzalez, Lowrie and Scutaro, among others.

I never understood the reasons Theo and Company dispatched Gonzalez last winter (and I argued at the time the decision was a drastic mistake)… the team preferred Scutaro and bestowed a two-year, $12.5 million contract on him.

Overall, his performance last year wasn’t especially good. But the truth of the matter is that it wasn’t especially bad, either. And the Cafardo column helps to put his struggles in context. A couple of weeks ago, we were spoon-fed the information that Scutaro dealt with a pinched nerve in his neck early in the year and that he dealt with it throughout the season. We also learned he experienced an on-going problem with his shoulder. Today we learned that his shoulder had actually atrophied:

Cafardo: “(H)e often showed reporters the difference in size between his biceps. It was amazing how he managed, but he fought through it.” (Like I said, it sounds like it was prepared by someone on the Red Sox paid to fluff and massage egos)

Scutaro said he played through considerable because he didn’t want to cede what he had worked so hard to achieve—“a chance to start in the Major Leagues.” Cafardo quoted Scutaro as saying: “I spent so much time on the bench (early in my big league career) that I always want to play.”

So he played.

He also played because of the succession of injuries that befell his teammates. Pedroia couldn’t play. Youkilis couldn’t play. Martinez couldn’t play. Ellsbury couldn’t play. But Scutaro could—it just hurt to do so. He sucked it up: “When you’re a little guy like me, you have to be tough. You don’t have any choice.’”

But does all of this mean he should be the starting shortstop in 2011? Opinions seem to be split on the subject. In my opinion, that is why the PR Machine is in overdrive—so people will accept the fact that Scutaro WILL be the starter, at least at the beginning of the season. (So sayeth the shepherd…)

I expect the organization will decide he is the best man for the job. After all, they will want to justify paying him more than $6 million this year. And since there doesn’t appear to be a clear favorite, they may as well play the veteran they are paying big bucks. But is it the right decision?

Scutaro has played in 990 games over nine seasons. He has a career stat line of .267/.336/.385; not especially impressive. But he has matured offensively as his career has progressed, and over the last two years he has hit .278, with 23 HR, 116 RBI and 192 R while compiling an OPS+ of 100. Defensively, he has typically been sub-standard (though he uncharacteristically posted a UZR of 17.8 in 2008). Last year, in spite of playing in tremendous pain, his UZR was a minus-2.9.

Meanwhile, Jed Lowrie has been hampered by a succession of injuries that has minimized his opportunities for playing time and left officials wondering if he will ever be healthy enough to play regularly. He has played 168 games over three seasons and compiled a career stat line of .253/.336/.425, including .287/.381/.526 last year (his 2010 BA, OBP and Slugging Percentage were each better than Scutaro has ever posted in any season). Last year he hit nine HR and drove in 24 runs in 171 AB. Defensively, his combined UZR over three years is 7.3 (minus-1.8 last year).

The club has an interest in playing Scutaro because it wants to justify his salary; but, they also have an interest in playing Lowrie because they need to find out what he can do—and with Jose Iglesias waiting in the wings to inherit the starting job next year, the club may want to build the Stanford grad’s trade value for next winter.

What’s a manager to do? Well, it says here that the club’s best option is to platoon the two players depending on who is on the mound.

A look at the player’s career splits show that Scutaro has been relatively consistent throughout his career against RHP and LHP… he has hit .271/.333/.379 against right-handers and .259/.344/.398 against southpaws. On the other hand, Lowrie has hit much better against lefties (.309/.417/.537) than he has against righties (.222/.290/.364).

So the answer to my question is both “yes” and “no.” In this instance, platooning makes a lot of sense from a statistical standpoint. Additionally, both players would spend most of the year in the right-hand batters box—not the worst thing that could happen on a team widely considered to be too left-handed. And then there is the argument that the periodic day off would help to keep Scutaro fresh throughout the entire season.

Scutaro would get most of the starts as there are more right-handed pitchers, but Lowrie would get the start Opening day in Texas (vs LHP CJ Wilson).

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When the Red Sox traded one of their all-time best players, Nomar Garciaparra, they entered a state of turmoil with regard to the shortstop position.

The Red Sox acquired Orlando Cabrera in 2004, followed quickly by Edgar Renteria and Julio Lugo. A combination of Lugo, Jed Lowrie, Alex Cora, Nick Green and Alex Gonzalez were used between 2007 and 2009.

Finally, the Red Sox signed Marco Scutaro, who started for the Red Sox in 2010. All in all, nine Red Sox started at least 50 games for the Red Sox since 2004.

Entering 2011, the Red Sox have two main options at shortstop. They can opt to continue starting Marco Scutaro, who was mediocre in 2010; or move on to Jed Lowrie, whose three stints on the disabled list since 2009 have limited his opportunities.

The Red Sox do have Jose Iglesias waiting in the minor leagues. Iglesias was ranked the 42nd best prospect in the league earlier this winter by Major League Baseball. However, he does not appear to be ready to move up to the majors, at least as a starter. It appears that 2012 is the most likely debut time for Iglesias.

Many have debated on whether to start Lowrie or Scutaro in 2011. Keep in mind that a combination of the two is certainly possible, due to Lowrie’s extreme split statistics. To compare the two, I will compare the two in each aspect of the game: ability to score runs, ability to drive runs in, and fielding. Let us begin with each player’s ability to score runs. 

Ability to Score Runs:

Marco Scutaro: Scutaro is not a particularly great on-base hitter. He has a career on-base percentage of just .336. In 2009, his on-base percentage was very respectable, reaching .379, though that appears to be somewhat of a fluke when compared to his other seasons.

Scutaro also has a poor slugging percentage; in his career he has slugged just .385, and .388 in 2010. The reason this relates to his ability to score runs is because it shows his inability to get in scoring position. He has mediocre at best speed to make matters worse. The 2009 campaign was the only season Scutaro stole more than seven bases, and he reverted back to his norm in 2010 by stealing just five bases on nine attempts.

All in all, Scutaro is not strong in this category, which is not a good sign for his 2011 prospects as the Red Sox have a sufficient amount of power hitters, they simply need players to get on base and in scoring position.

Jed Lowrie: While Lowrie does not have phenomenal major league statistics, that is likely due to his injuries and lack of playing time. In 2010 though, Lowrie did post a .381 on-base percentage in 171 at-bats, which is very encouraging.  

In the minors, Lowrie has demonstrated above average on-base potential. His last full season was 2007, during which his on-base percentage reached .393.

In 2008, his on-base percentage in the minors was .359, which is still respectable. Injuries limited Lowrie to just 114 minor league at-bats and 239 major league at-bats, so Lowrie is a bit of a wild card entering 2011. For that reason, he is a player to watch during spring training.

With regards to Lowrie’s ability to reach scoring position, he does have an advantage over Scutaro. In his major league career (499 at-bats), Lowrie has a .425 slugging percentage. That number is not phenomenal, though it trumps Scutaro’s .385 slugging percentage by a lot.

In his minor league career, Lowrie’s slugging percentage has fluctuated between .374 and .503 in seasons with 200+ at-bats. Lowrie is not known for stealing bases; he is two for three in 499 career major league at-bats. 

If Lowrie had continued his pace in 2010 for the same number of at-bats as Scutaro, he would have scored 114 runs to Scutaro’s 92. In conclusion, Lowrie gets the edge in ability to get into scoring position and reach home plate.

Ability to Drive Runs In:

Marco Scutaro: Scutaro has never been known as a power hitter, mostly due to the fact that he has never been a power hitter. In 2009, he hit a career high 12 home runs, followed by a second best of his career 11 home runs in 2010. For a shortstop, these totals are very mediocre.

Scutaro’s career ISO (Isolated Power) is .118. For comparison’s sake, Derek Jeter has a career .139 ISO and Dustin Pedroia has a career .156 ISO. Clearly, Scutaro lacks in this category.

Scutaro, like most MLB players, is much better with runners in scoring position. He had a .297 batting average in these situations with 45 RBI in 128 at-bats. These stats are not head-turning by any standard, though they show Scutaro will not be a liability when he has opportunities to drive in runs. 

Again, Scutaro is nothing to be ecstatic about in this category.

Jed Lowrie: Despite hitting nine home runs in just 171 at-bats in 2010, Lowrie is not truly a power hitter. In the minors, he hit double digit home runs in just one season, though his at-bats were very limited just about every year. Lowrie has 13 to 18 home run potential, though it is likely that he will fall short of that range given 500 at-bats in 2011. 

However, Lowrie’s ISO has been much higher than that of Scutaro. In his 499 major league at-bats, his ISO has been .172, though that is heavily influenced by his surprising 2010 power which can not be expected in 2011.

In the minors, Lowrie’s ISO has varied between the low .110s to the low .200s. He has the potential to be a relatively strong run producer among shortstops, though he is not a guarantee, especially coming off of an injury.

Scutaro is the safer choice, though Lowrie has the potential to be a bigger threat.

Defensive Prowess:

Marco Scutaro: Among qualified shortstops in 2010, Scutaro ranked 14th out of 21 in UZR with a -2.9 showing. He fared no better in terms of fielding percentage, as he ranked 17th among qualified shortstops with a poor .965 fielding percentage. Scutaro has never been an elite defender, and if his age gives him problems in 2011, he may become a liability for the Red Sox.

Jed Lowrie: Lowrie does not have a sufficient amount of major league statistics to have a sense of where he stands as a fielder relative to other major leagues. However, he has been touted in this regard.

In 2008, when Lowrie was just 24, Francona said about Lowrie playing third and shortstop, “We’re talking about a kid making his debut in the major leagues and he’s going back and forth between third and short. And he’s really handled it quite well. He’s done it not only in different games, but in the middle of games.”

Based on his little major league experience, it appears that Lowrie will develop into an above average fielder.

The Verdict:

If I had to choose one of the two shortstops to start all 162 games in 2011, I would likely choose Scutaro due to his consistency. However, I am not restricted to this, and truthfully the best option is a platoon based on the opposing pitchers.

In his career, Lowrie has been dominant against right-handed pitching and miserable against lefties. Here are his career splits:

Versus lefties (170 at-bats): .324 batting average/30 runs/7 home runs/36 RBI/1 stolen base

Versus righties (324 at-bats): .216 batting average/40 runs/6 home runs/45 RBI/1 stolen base

Clearly, he should be the starter against opposing left-handed pitchers. On the other hand, he should sit every game against righties.

Entering the 2011 season, the best plan for the Red Sox is for Scutaro to be the main starter, with Lowrie playing the majority of the games against left-handed pitchers, and also pinch-hitting versus lefties. This way, the two will complement each other’s skill sets and lower their injury risk by reducing their number of games played. 

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With Major League Baseball’s spring training just around the corner, most teams are about done with their offseason shopping.

But for most clubs, that’s just the first step—even once everyone has signed, there are still big decisions to be made about who will play and where.

Here’s a look at each team’s biggest position battle heading into Spring Training.

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In the blitzkrieg of high-profile signings that has been the Red Sox’ offseason, too easily have nagging questions escaped our rose-colored tunnel vision. As star-struck as Boston fans are right now, we’d be sealing our own fates if we hitched our hopes to two free agents and threw caution to the wind.

One important decision yet to be made is who mans the shortstop position in 2011. As critical as the starting pitching is to the Red Sox’ fortunes, it seems highly unlikely that any additions or subtractions will be made at this point. That hand has been dealt.

But Terry Francona can still improve the Red Sox in small but significant ways if he makes the tough decision to start Jed Lowrie over Marco Scutaro. Here are six reasons why…

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