Brian Sabean has taken his fair share of criticism in 18 seasons as San Francisco's general manager.
While some of his acquisitions have bombed – Armando Benitez, A.J. Pierzynski, Sidney Ponson, among others – you can't argue with the overall outcome, which has resulted in two World Series championships, and five division crowns during that span.
Currently the longest tenured GM in the game, Sabean is at it again with the 2014 trading season in full swing.
Here's a look back at the 10 best players Sabean has acquired via trade during his tenure as general manager:
10) Marco Scutaro
Date acquired/former team: July 27th 2012 from Colorado
Exchanged for: Charlie Culberson
This could have been Freddy Sanchez too, but Scutaro's play has just barely edged out Sanchez thus far.
Scutaro was a pivotal part of the 2012 World Series run, hitting a robust .362 in 61 regular season games after being traded from Colorado.
He then proceeded to go 14-28 against St. Louis in the NLCS, helping propel the Giants into the World Series.
9) Javier Lopez
Date acquired/former team: July 31st 2010 from Pittsburgh
Exchanged for: John Bowker, Joe Martinez
Trading for middle relief specialists doesn't grab many headlines, but the 2010 acquisition of Lopez from the Pittsburgh Pirates was one of the most savvy moves Sabean has made.
Lopez has become one of the most dominant specialists in the game, posting a 2.30 ERA and allowing just four home runs across 275 appearances as a Giant.
He's been even better in the postseason, with a 1.09 ERA in 14 games.
8) Ellis Burks
Date acquired/former team: July 31st 1998 from Colorado
Exchanged for: Darryl Hamilton, Jim Stoops
Acquired at the trade deadline in 1998, Burks put together a solid showing in his 42 games post-trade, hitting .306, with five home runs, 22 RBI's and eight steals.
Although his Giants tenure wasn't long, he provided great production in his two and a half years, posting 60 home runs, back-to-back 96 RBI seasons, and becoming the first right fielder to play AT&T's tricky right field dimensions.
7) Randy Winn
Date acquired/former team: July 30th 2005 from Seattle
Exchanged for: Yorvit Torrealba, Jesse Foppert
The Giants were in search of a bat atop the lineup for the 2005 stretch run, and Sabean delivered with the acquisition of Randy Winn from Seattle.
Winn hit the ground running as soon as he put on a Giants uniform, hitting .359 in the season's final two months, including 14 home runs – equaling the most he hit during an entire season – in just 58 games.
Winn finished his five year run as a Giant with a .290 average, 51 home runs, 262 RBI's and 73 steals – numbers that outproduced all other stops among his five team career.
6) Angel Pagan
Date Acquired/former team: December 7th 2011 from New York Mets
Exchanged for: Andres Torres, Ramon Ramirez
Coming to San Francisco prior to the 2012 season, Pagan has become the key cog in the Giants offense.
Pagan led the Giants in runs scored, triples, and steals in 2012 and has provided exceptional defense in center field.
Though injuries have slowed Pagan each of the last two seasons, his production far outweighs what the Giants gave up to acquire him.
Andres Torres and Ramon Ramirez each ended up signing back with the Giants a year later after disappointing seasons with the Mets.
5) Hunter Pence
Date Acquired/former team: July 31st 2012 from Philadelphia
Exchanged for: Nate Schierholtz, Seth Rosin and Tommy Joseph
The spark plug of the 2012 World Series Champions, Pence has become a fixture in right field, appearing in every game since arriving from Philadelphia.
He put together a career year in 2013, hitting 27 home runs with 99 RBI's, 22 steals and 91 runs scored.
Now signed through the 2018 season, the Giants seem to have come out on top with this deal, as the trio of players sent to Philadelphia have not panned out – Schierholtz, the only major league player sent to the Phillies, is now in Chicago.
4) J.T. Snow
Date Acquired/former team: November 26th 1996 from Anaheim
Exchanged for: Allen Watson, Fausto Macey
Snow was one of the first deals Sabean made as general manager after taking over the job prior to the 1997 season.
Not only did Snow save Dusty Baker's son during the 2002 NLCS, but the slick fielding first baseman won four consecutive Gold Glove awards from 1997-2000, and posted three seasons of 90+ RBI's.
Considering Watson finished his career with a 5.03 ERA and Macey never surfaced in the major leagues, Sabean got huge value out of the 10 seasons Snow spent in a Giants uniform.
3) Jason Schmidt
Date Acquired/former team: July 30th 2001 from Pittsburgh
Exchanged for: Armando Rios, Ryan Vogelsong
Acquired alongside John Vander Wal from Pittsburgh in 2001, Schmidt produced two All-star seasons, as well as placing in the top 5 Cy Young voting consecutive seasons in 2004-05.
Schmidt seemingly hit his stride the second he was traded, becoming the ace of the Giants pitching staff for six seasons, and significantly outproducing his Pittsburgh numbers.
In San Francisco he finished with a .678 win percentage, going 78-37 across 162 starts. His ERA was a full run lower as a Giant, posting a solid 3.36 ERA – he had a 4.39 ERA in six seasons as a Pirate.
2) Robb Nen
Date Acquired/former team: November 18th 1997 from Florida
Exchanged for: Joe Fontenot, Mike Villano, Mick Pageler
Sabean knew he was getting a good pitcher when he acquired Nen during the Marlins 1997 fire sale, but even he must have been surprised with the production he received in the coming years.
Nen became the franchise saves leader, nailing down 206 saves in five seasons with the Giants.
Much like Schmidt, Nen posted his best numbers in San Francisco, shaving a full run off his Marlins ERA (3.41 to 2.43) and recording 206 of his 314 career saves as a Giant.
Sabean once again pulled the wool over his trade partner's eyes, as the Marlins got next to nothing in return for Nen – Fontenot was the only player to reach the majors, and promptly finished with an 0-7 record in 1998, his only year in the majors.
1) Jeff Kent
Date Acquired/former team: November 13th 1996 from Cleveland.
Exchanged for: Matt Williams, Trent Hubbard
The “I am not an idiot” trade, Sabean was under scrutiny after trading away fan favorite Matt Williams.
As it turns out, Sabean was right. Williams continued to produce great numbers after the trade, but Kent was even better, posting MVP-caliber numbers every season in San Francisco and winning the award in 2000.
In six seasons with the Giants, Kent hit 175 home runs, drove in 689 runs, and scored 570 runs.
He placed top 10 in MVP voting four times, made three All-star games, and finished 10th on the franchise home run list.
For more content by Chris Kersevan, check out his writer’s page and on Twitter @cker7
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