The Giants have quickly turned around and traded catcher Ronny Paulino to the Marlins for 21-year old righty Hector Correa. This is good news for Steve Holm who will likely get to keep his job backing up Bengie Molina in 2009. Correa pitched in 5 games (all starts) in A and Rookie Ball last season and he was 0-1 with a 7.82 ERA and a 1.82 WHIP. Correa pitched parts of three seasons in the minors for the Marlins. He appeared in 34 games (29 starts) in his minor league career and he is 8-10 with a 4.52 ERA and a 1.55 WHIP. He has also whiffed 152 batters in only 143 innings in his minor league career. Correa was the #22 prospect in the Marlins’ minor league system according to Baseball America. He is recovering from Tommy John Surgery but he has a nice upside.

The Giants have acquired 27-year old righty swinging catcher Ronny Paulino from the Phillies for 30-year old lefty reliever Jack Taschner. Paulino will back up Bengie Molina for the Giants this season. He played in 40 games for the Pirates last season in which he was 25 for 118 (.212 avg, .582 OPS) with 8 runs scored, 2 homers and 18 RBIs. Paulino has now played in 304 games in his major league career in which he is 284 for 1,021 (.278 avg, .713 OPS) with 102 runs scored, 19 homers and 128 RBIs. This is a clear upgrade for the Giants’ bench in 2009.

Taschner pitched in 67 games (0 starts) for the Giants last season and he was 3-2 with a 4.88 ERA and a 1.69 WHIP. He pitched in 178 games (0 starts) in his career with the Giants going 8-4 with a 5.01 ERA and a 1.57 WHIP. The Giants won’t miss Taschner much because he’s just not that good.

The Giants have released 40-year old righty reliever Keiichi Yabu. This is a small surprise as Yabu was pretty solid last season. He pitched in 60 games (0 starts) for the Giants last season in which he was 3-6 with a 3.57 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP. Cutting Yabu might be a good sign for the Giants as other pitchers have passed him up in the pecking order.

UPDATE: The Giants have re-signed Yabu to a minor league contract.

The Giants have acquired 25-year old righty swinging shortstop Sergio Santos from the White Sox for future considerations. Santos played in 112 games in AAA-ball last season and he was 89 for 390 (.228 avg, .607 OPS) with 51 runs scored, 5 homers, 47 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. Santos used to be a highly thought of prospect before his poor year in 2008 so it was worth the risk for the Giants to take a flyer on him.

The Giants wanted to get 22-year old switch hitting Pablo Sandoval’s bat into the lineup so they are converting the catcher into a 3B. He played in 41 games for the Giants last season in which he was 50 for 145 (.345 avg, .847 OPS) with 24 runs scored, 3 homers and 24 RBIs. He played in 12 games at 3B for the Giants last season and he didn’t make any errors while showing poor range. The Giants will live with the range problem as long as he hits the ball well in 2009. Sandoval also played in 112 games in A+AA ball last season in which he was 157 for 448 (.350 avg) with 90 runs scored, 20 homers and 96 RBIs.

Veterans Juan Uribe and Rich Aurilia will be Sandoval’s backups in 2009. Uribe played in 57 games at 3B for the White Sox making 7 errors and showing outstanding range. Aurilia played in 63 games at 3B for the Giants last season and he made 5 errors there while showing poor range.

25-year old righty swinging Ryan Rohlinger is a long shot to help the Giants in 2009. He played in 21 games for the Giants last season in which he was 3 for 32 (.094 avg, .309 OPS) with 2 runs scored and 2 RBIs. Rohlinger played in 14 games at 3B last season for the Giants and he made 3 errors while showing below average range. He also played in 117 games in A+AA ball last season in which he was 126 for 436 (.289 avg) with 72 runs scored, 13 homers, 65 RBIs and 6 stolen bases.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2009 SEASON: B