The Giants have acquired 36-year old righty swinging shortstop Orlando Cabrera from the Cleveland Indians for 23-year old righty swinging outfielder Thomas Neal. Cabrera played in 91 games for the Indians this year and he was 79 for 324 (.244 avg, .598 OPS) with 35 runs scored, 4 homers, 38 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. He has now played in 1,945 games in his major league career and he is 2,027 for 7,436 (.273 avg, .710 OPS) with 980 runs scored, 122 homers, 841 RBIs and 214 stolen bases. Cabrera will likely take over as the starting shortstop for the Giants.

Thomas Neal played in 60 games in AAA-ball this year for the Giants and he was 65 for 220 (.295 avg, .761 OPS) with 35 runs scored, 2 homers, 25 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. Neal came into this season as the Giants’ #7 prospect according to Baseball America so this was a high price to pay for a 36-year old shortstop. But, if Cabrera helps them repeat as World Series’ Champions in 2011, it will be viewed as a bargain.

The Giants have designated 31-year old righty swinging infielder Bill Hall for assignment to make room on the roster for Carlos Beltran. Hall played in 16 games for the Giants this year and he was 6 for 38 (.158 avg, .430 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 0 homers, 1 RBI and 2 stolen bases. Hall has played in 62 games overall this year with the Astros & Giants and he is 39 for 185 (.211 avg, .575 OPS) with 24 runs scored, 2 homers, 14 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. Hall has whiffed 63 times this year while walking only 11 times, so he has been hacking at everything so far this year. This is no loss for the Giants.

UPDATE: (8/4/2011) - The Giants have outrighted Bill Hall to AAA.

The Giants have acquired 34-year old switch-hitting RF Carlos Beltran and $4 million bucks from the Mets for 21-year old righty starting pitcher ZacK Wheeler. Beltran has played in 98 games for the Mets this year and he is 102 for 353 (.289 avg, .904 OPS) with 61 runs scored, 15 homers, 66 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. Beltran has now played in 1,724 games in his first 14 years in the majors and he is 1,863 of 6,600 (.282 avg, .856 OPS) with 1,167 runs scored, 295 homers, 1,128 RBIs and 292 stolen bases. Beltran becomes the Giants’ best hitter from the day he arrives and he’s just what the doctor ordered to remedy the batting order for the rest of the season.

Beltran didn’t come cheaply though as Zack Wheeler came into this season as the Giants’ #2 prospect according to Baseball America. Wheeler pitched in 16 games (all starts) in A-ball for the Giants this year and he was 7-5 with a 3.99 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. He pitched in 37 games (29 starts) in parts of two years in the minors for the Giants and he is 10-8 with a 3.99 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP. The Giants decided to ante up and they got the best available hitter on the trade market.

The San Francisco Giants are going to be aiming really high in the trade market this week. They want a big time offensive player for the outfield with Ryan Ludwick, Carlos Beltran, Alfonso Soriano, Hunter Pence and B.J. Upton. None of those guys are going to come cheaply but the Giants are willing to move pretty good prospects to get one of them. There isn’t much available on the trade market at catcher and shortstop but I could see the Giants making offers to the Royals for Mike Aviles (2B,SS and 3B) and to the Cubs for catcher Geovany Soto. It will be interesting to see what the Giants do because they need more hitting if they want to repeat as World Series Champions in 2011.

28-year old righty reliever Sergio Romo has been outstanding for the Giants so far this year. Romo has pitched in 45 games (0 starts) for the Giants so far this year and he is 3-1 with 1 save, a 1.91 ERA and a 0.70 WHIP. Romo has been attacking the strikezone this year as he has whiffed 48 batters while only walking 4 in his first 33 innings in 2011! Romo has also only given up 19 hits so far this year as he’s throwing strikes and missing a whole lot of bats this year which shows just how good his stuff is. He would be closing on a lot of teams in the majors but not in San Francisco where Brian Wilson is the man.