The Giants have acquired infielder Marco Scutaro and cash considerations from the Rockies in exchange for minor league second baseman Charlie Culberson. The money will help pay a portion of the approximately $2.2MM that Scutaro is owed for the rest of the season. According to MLBTR's Transaction Tracker, this is the first time since 2006 that the two NL West rivals have been trade partners.
Scutaro, 36, has a .271/.324/.359 line in 411 plate appearances with the Rockies heading into Friday's play, though he has just a .570 OPS away from Coors Field. Scutaro has played mostly second base this season and has also seen some time at short in place of the injured Troy Tulowitzki. The veteran could see time at either position in San Francisco, as shortstop Brandon Crawford and second baseman Ryan Theriot have little offensive value, though Crawford has a solid glove. Scutaro also has experience at third base and could see time at the hot corner with Pablo Sandoval injured.
The Rockies acquired Scutaro in a trade with the Red Sox last winter and he enjoyed his time in Colorado, telling Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post that he would be interested in re-signing with the Rockies as a free agent in the offseason.
Culberson was a supplemental first-round pick (51st overall) of the Giants in the 2007 amateur draft. The 23-year-old has a .258/.309/.379 batting line in 2575 minor league plate appearances and made his Major League debut this season, appearing in six games for the Giants.
Troy Renck of the Denver Post was the first to report that Scutaro was going to San Francisco. The Rockies' official Twitter feed announced Culberson's involvement, though Andrew Baggarly of CSNBayArea.com thought a deal was in the offing earlier tonight when he reported that Culberson had been pulled from Triple-A Frisco's lineup. Baggarly also had details about the Rockies' cash payment.
Acquired for Charlie Culberson. Good, good..
Good trade. Culberson was TOTALLY over matched when he was called up.
Just glancing at his numbers, it looks like they totally rushed that kid.
He’s not particularly young
23 seems super young to me…
No, but he’s not so old they needed to move him to the majors before he could break a 700 OPS in the PCL, either.
For Tim Lincecum?
I seen this on MLB Network a minute before it was posted here. They didn’t say the player but mentioned a deal went down. Just saying… hehe.
I just saw it while watching the Giants. At first I didn’t see Scutaro’s name in the trade. So it said Giants trade Charlie Culberson to Rockies for cash. I got pretty excited.
MLB Network is awesome. I had just closed the laptop, heard on MLBN there was trade and instantly opened it back up!
Solid move for the Giants. I recently saw a movie about Marco Scutaro while he was a minor leaguer with the Milawaukee Brewers and how he and his teammates struggled to make it to the Majors. Definitely was a good watch and it even shed light on how Scutaro liked to operate remote control cars on the field before the game. Can’t go wrong here.
Hope he finds success in SF.
Guy who is featured in a documentary and likes to operate remote control cars on the field equals acquisition that can’t go wrong? Not following that logic…
What movie? Netflix?
Yes, on Netflix (might still be on there, I saw it about a year ago on there), called “A Player To Be Named Later”. Pretty interesting documentary…
Scutaro and his under 600 OPS away from coors will fill in well with that giants lineup
And in their stadium it should only get better 🙂
ATT is pretty neutral, in fact its not a bad hitters park at all for right handed hitters.
It is a great place to play if you are a gap hitter as it has some of the largest gaps available due to the overplaying of RF’s toward Right Center field.
Crawford .624 ops, Scutaro .684 ops while playing in Colorado. Not much of an upgrade. Plus declining defense.
He’s replacing Burriss not Crawford
Thank God for that.
don’t be so sure about that… doesn’t make much sense to bring in scutaro to warm the bench… burriss will go to make room, but he’s not the guy getting replaced.
He’s taking over Burriss’s spot, but will get more PT than Burris got. I’d expect him to steal a start away from Theriot here and there, initially I see him starting at 3B until Sandoval is healthy. Depending on how they handle 1B, you could see Scutaro at 3B, Craw at SS, with Arias filling in at both positions while Sandoval takes over at 1B.
Scutaro’s not taking over Theriot’s spot and he’ll get starts at SS probably when lefties are pitching and occasional starts at 2B when Theriot needs a day off, but I’d still assume Crawford will get the majority of the starts.
.238/.278/.292/.570 away from Coors. Possibly a downgrade.
projected numbers are very solid, better than Theriot, Crawford or Arias by quite a bit.
He will replace Burriss. Look at burriss’s #’s. Two extra ball hits in his last 300 PA’s. Big upgrade for the Giants bench. Now go get a bullpen arm Sabes.
Culberson’s OBP in AA was under .300.
I don’t mind giving him up.
bye bye burriss
This deserves champagne!
What do fans care more about, acquiring Scutaro or that this means no more Burriss? I’ll go with no more Burriss.
Should have traded Gary brown for Daniel Murphy(.300 hitter), hairston(lefties killer) and byrdak(loogie)
Hell no.
We don’t need any more left mashers.
And Brown’s value has fallen precipitately this year.
So you trade him for another singles hitter? We have plenty of those.
The point is to not trade him at all…
exactly. brown is the immediate future and he’s going to be starting in CF for years to come. really though, this year doesnt matter, it matters how scouts evaluate him. same reason we see guys at the big league level go through ups and downs only to go to their career averages. hard hit balls right at guys, etc etc. 600 PA will always tell the true story, which is why brown is now hitting. keep him sabes. i think he will, or he would’ve traded him for beltran rather than wheeler, who they thought was too wild to make it to the bigs
I guess you weren’t aware he’s been hitting since June? And is like 3 hits away form a .300 AVG
I am aware.
The point is that even though he is returning to (hopefully) form, that long slump damaged his value.
The Mets turned down Gregerson for Murphy. That being a great offer that fits their needs, I am assuming that means they are keeping him.
Scu-scu-scutaro! (imagine this is phil collins singing)
Nice, I like the move. Solid aquisition.
Good move to provide depth for the INF. I would assume that Burriss is going to DFA shortly.
good start. now go get a reliever and a big OF bat
Hello? Do you know who Melky Cabrera is? We just need a good veteran 1st baseman who can still hit (Like Albert Pujols for example but lord knows were not going to get him). Then we sign the first baseman to a 4 year deal and put belt in against some pitchers and the other guy against some other pitchers. Belt will improve and then we can drop this other first baseman!
ummmm??
Another swing and a miss for you…
Yeah, someone like Albert Pujols. But not Albert Pujols. Maybe Prince Fielder or Adrian Gonzalez. Because that’s a little more realistic…
ha
Hh-what?
Was weird seeing Tejada as a Giant but with Scut declining so much this year, may put up similar results in SF
He’s better than Burriss.
Wait till you see how “good” he is this year before you declare that.
He has more than one XBH this year. I’ll take him.
Culberson, lots of K’s, good speed and gap hitter (well at least the year I saw him).
His numbers offensively away from Coors Field are a bit of a secondary thought. The Giants clearly aren’t looking at Scutaro to be what Beltran was at the time he was acquired last season. He’s the type of guy you play small ball with, which is something the Giants have to do.
the A’s just got denied
I think wherever he’s played at whether SS or 2B, he’s an upgrade. Crawford is one heck of a defensive player but has yet to find consistency with the bat. And Theriot is a terrible defender with a little pop. At least with Scutaro he’s a above average defender and a decent hitter.
One, Crawford has the most errors on the team and surprisingly a defensive liability (see our series in Washington, he blew a game, one of many). Theriot has had great defense here in San Francisco with barely an error. He also gives consistently good at-bats in any situation (can’t say the same for Crawford).
Crawford has a lot of defensive talent, but he’s made a lot of mistakes. Hopefully the talent will show through in the long-run, but yes, Crawford has been more of a liability in the field than most thought (but he’s also made some great plays).
But Theriot as a bad defender? I don’t know if CA_RedBirds watches Giants games, but Theriot has already made more than a season’s worth of really incredible plays. Maybe lifetime, he’s not a great defender, but I’ve really liked what I’ve seen him do in SF with the glove.
It’s funny that you highlight the series with the Nationals. Since then, he has been spectacular defensively.
Team 1 for me is the whitesox being from a Chicago suburb. Team 2 is the giants as I’m moving out to San Fran hopefully no more than 2 years from now, this is a great trade for them.
Scutaro. Yup, that’ll really help. Ya know what actually would help? Going out and getting Corey Hart. He’s probably available at this point.
So far this year, Marco Scutaro has been traded for Clayton Mortensen and then for Charlie Culberson. Hope he didn’t have an ego.
Never mind, he just won the NLCS MVP, so I guess he can have an ego…
This article is all messed up. Says Rockies are getting cash to pay Scutaro’s contract and then says the Giants AAA team is in “Frisco” lol
The Giants needed to improve the bench, Sabean said he wanted to improve the bench, and this improves the bench. Yea, they could still use another hitter and maybe another bullpen arm (though I’m not sure that can’t be fixed from within) but its definitely a step in the right direction and they gave up pretty much nothing. I don’t get why there’s grumbling about this deal. This deal certainly doesn’t prohibit them from still acquiring a Willingham, Soriano, Choo, Hart, Hairston or Pence.
Scutaro was a decent hitter on the Red Sox. I don’t know who Buriss is or how good he is, but Scutaro can help this team.
Seattle Mariners should acquire Burriss and a second tier minor-league prospect from the San Fran Giants for relief pitcher Brandon League who can be a great closer for the Giants, esp. in the playoffs. That will be a smart move for both teams.
Potential great acquisition…IF…Scutaro’s numbers away from Coors improve with the Giants.