Orlando Cabrera Traded to Giants

In an effort to shore up the middle on their infield, the Giants acquired Orlando Cabrera from the Indians for minor leaguer Thomas Neal.

Cabrera instantly becomes San Francisco’s starting shortstop, even though he had mostly played second base this season for the Indians.  The Giants primary man at short, Miguel Tejada, has been out since the middle of July and the club’s been looking for a replacement since.

For the Indians this season Cabrera only managed a line of .244/.277/.321 with 17 extra base hits and 38 RBI’s.  With his addition, it’s uncertain what the club will do with Tejada once the 37 year old returns from the disabled list.  Neither player has been very good in 2011, but San Francisco was rumored to have considered releasing Tejada earlier this year.

In Neal, the Indians receive a 23 year old outfielder that’s spent the season in Triple-A.  Neal entered last season ranked as a top 100 prospect by Baseball America, but didn’t put up eye popping numbers at the Double-A level.

This season has been more of the same for Neal as he’s only posted a .761 OPS over 60 games.  Still, he has a career OPS of .839 in the minors and raked in High-A in 2009 as a 21 year old.

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