How Does Pagan Equal Torres AND Ramirez?

Angel Pagan seems to be equal to Andres Torres. Torres has more power and had a higher value than Pagan in 2011 with a better fielding year. Pagan can steal some bases and was worth more than Torres in 2010 but not 2011. Pagan is also three years younger than Torres. With all those thoughts in mind, a straight up swap doesn't seem absurd and a case can be made for it. But then the Giants threw in Ramon Ramirez into the deal and that doesn't make any sense at all.

Ramirez isn't a spectacular relief pitcher. But he is a solid one. All three of his pitches (fastball, slider, change) were valued in the positive numbers last season. His career ERA is 3.17 with a FIP of 3.74, but he's been even better for the Giants. Since the Giants acquired him from the Red Sox in 2010, Ramirez has pitched 91 times and compiled an ERA of 2.07. He's kept the ball in the yard consistently except for the early part of 2010 when he lost favor with the Red Sox which precipitated his departure there.

For most of Ramirez's career, he's been death to right handed batters who have a combined .580 OPS against him. But last year, he was even better against left-handed batters who batted only .204 against him. So it appears that Ramirez has learned how to get them out. Except for one season previously, Ramirez has given up more fly balls than ground balls. But he reversed that in 2011 with a 1.59 ground ball to fly ball ratio. Plus, he's hard to square up. His career line drive percentage against is only 16.7 percent with the highest of 18.7 percent reached in 2008.

The one weakness of Ramon Ramirez is that he walks too many batters. But his low hits per nine total seem to even that weakness out and he had a very good WHIP last season of 1.17. What this Fan likes especially is that his WPA has been positive for every year of his career except for 2007. Ramirez has 63 career holds and eleven saves to go along with 20 wins against just 17 losses.

So again, Ramirez straight up for Angel Pagan might work. But then Andres Torres messes up the trade again. Angel Pagan's very name is an oxymoron. Is he an angel or a sinner? The last two years have shown both. In 2010, Pagan's defense was worth 15.4 runs above average. Then last year, he gave almost all of those back with a -14.3 showing which included ten errors--an absurdly high amount for a center fielder. He's been labeled as a low-Baseball-IQ kind of guy who throws to the wrong bases, etc.

Torres, meanwhile, has been worth 22 runs and 9.4 runs above average in center for the last two seasons respectively. Both Torres and Pagan run the bases well. Torres walks slightly more often but also strikes out more often than Pagan. And again, he is three years older.

No matter how this Fan tries to slice this, it turns out to be a sweet deal for the Mets and a head-scratcher for the Giants. A straight up swap of Pagan for either Torres or Ramirez makes some sense. But swapping Pagan for both players seems to be a steal for the Mets.

Giants Winning on the Shewd and Cheap

The Giants have been long known for throwing away money. The Barry Zito deal alone will go down in history as one of the most overpaid contracts. They threw $9 million at Edgar Rentoria (or Rentashortstop if you will). They way overpaid Aaron Rowand. And all that spending got them was a great pitching staff and a feeble offense that couldn't get the job done. In a striking contrast to their history, the Giants may well have bought another pennant, but this time on the cheap.

If the Giants beat the Padres again, they will have closed the gap that seemed impossible to close just a couple of weeks ago. And if they do, it will be on the backs of cheap players like Pat Burrell, Aubrey Huff, Jose Guillen, Andres Torres and Buster Posey. The latter has simply killed the ball since he was called up. His success allowed the Giants to finally end the Bengi Molina years in San Francisco. Posey, of course, as a high draft pick, made a good bit of money to sign, but he's still a better value than Molina. Posey has already racked up a WAR (wins above replacement) of 2.1 in just 85 games. Molina's BEST FULL season in WAR was 2.3 and Molina made over $6 million that year.

Pat Burrell has been outstanding. Left on the scrap heap by the Tampa Bay Rays, the Giants scooped him up on the cheap since Burrell is still making $9 million off the Bay Rays, All Burrell has done for the Giants is hit 15 homers in 244 at bats and has driven in 40 runs in 76 games. His On Base Percentage is .377 and his OPS+ is sitting at 137. That was a pretty snazzy pick up. In hindsight, if the Bay Rays had simply stuck Burrell in the line up every day and left him there, he would have been better than anything they've used as DH since. The thing is, according to Baseball-reference.com, Burrell is playing his best outfield in years as well. So that's another 2.1 WAR on the cheap.

Aubrey Huff has had a very underrated career. He's been a really good offensive player for a very long time. Last year was his worst year since 2005 and he still managed a combined 15 homers and 85 RBIs between the Orioles and Tigers. Unfortunately, he didn't do anything for the Tigers in their stretch drive last year and he found himself as a free agent. He ended up signing with the Giants for an unbelievably cheap $3 million. What a bargain! Fangraphs has rated Huff's performance in both the field and at the plate at $20.4 million this year. That's quite a return on the investment. Huff is closing in on 300 career homers and his career should be a lot more appreciated than it is.

And you can't forget the impact Andres Torres has made on this club. His defense is amazing and his offense is cooking along at a 117 OPS+. He is making $426,000 this year. That's near minimum and according to Fangraphs, he's been worth $21.8 million with his defense and his hitting. Incredible.

There is one more shrewd move that helped propel the Giants to the brink of winning the division. The front four starters of the rotation will all make 30 or more starts this season. That's a remarkable run of health. Their fifth starter was Todd Wellemeyer, a pitcher who has had some decent success, but really isn't a great pitcher. Wellemeyer made 13 unsuccessful starts and then the Giants turned to Madison Bumgarner. Bumgarner was not an unknown for the Giants as he was their first round pick in 2007. He made his debut last year and was effective in his ten innings of look-see. This year, since his call up, he's made 14 starts and he's been delightful. He has a 124 ERA+, a 2.65 K/BB ratio and he has won five games for the Giants. His control is excellent for his age and he gives you quality starts.

The Giants' pitching has been the story for years. Not only is their rotation good, but they may have the best closer in the National League this side of Billy Wagner (Brian Wilson). But they couldn't win at pitching alone. Earlier in the year, the Padres beat them regularly by beating the Giants at their own game. Since those early days, the additions of Posey and Burrell as well as the steady beat of an Aubrey Huff having a great season along with Andres Torres' great defense and good offense have changed the dynamics of the rivalry. No longer is it a battle of pitching staffs. Now the Giants can get some offense. And for once in the Giants' history, they got that offense cheaply.

Torres for MVP?

Andres Torres is 32 years old. He was drafted twelve years ago by the Tigers (fourth round). It took him four years to get a cup of coffee with the Tigers. He didn't do well. He got a little larger sip of coffee the following year. He didn't do well. In 2004, he got into three games with the Tigers but never got to bat. He went in to play the outfield twice for an inning and pinch ran once. He stole a base and scored. He became a free agent at the end of the season.

The following season, he was signed by the Texas Rangers. He got into eight games with the Rangers. He didn't do well and they released him in June of 2005. He signed as a free agent with the Twins and played in the minors the entire 2006 season. He became a free agent. He was signed back with the Tigers as a free agent and spent the entire 2007 season in the minors. He became a free agent again. He signed with the Cubs and played the entire 2008 season in the minors. He became a free agent again.

On January 9, 2009, Torres signed with the San Francisco Giants. He played 17 games in the minors and the Giants needed help so they called him up. The rest, in the immortal words of that emperor with the groove, "Boom Baby!" Torres got into 75 games with the Giants and compiled 170 plate appearances and finished with a 124 OPS+. He was also stellar in the field in all three outfield positions. It was a nice season for the 31 year old lifer. But not too many people payed much attention.

He's played nearly every game for the Giants this year. He's racked up 372 plate appearances and is close to a 130 OPS+ (remember that 100 is league average). He leads the league in doubles with 32. He's stolen 18 bases and has only been caught five times. His OBP is in the high .370s. And his defense! His defense has been a revelation. Thanks to his stellar season at the plate and his superb defense, he is second only to Joey Votto in the National League in WAR (Wins Above Replacement) with 4.1. FanGraphs.com pins his current value at $16 million. Not bad for a guy making just above league minimum.

Andres Torres needs to be seriously considered for the National League MVP. That statement alone is astonishing considering the long strange trip that Torres took to get to the place he is now. His BABIP is a bit high which shows he's been a bit lucky, but come on! 51% of his hits have been for extra bases. He has scored 57 times and has driven in 41 from mostly the lead off spot. And there is no luck involved in his fielding.

Andres Torres has been an amazing story that few on the East Coast have payed any attention to or even know about. He's been incredible, which is a really cool story.