Sports

Trade for Pagan from Mets was Giant steal

SAN FRANCISCO — For the Giants, it turned out to be a steal.

Not that Giants general manager Brian Sabean was trying to pull a heist when he dealt Andres Torres and Ramon Ramirez to the Mets for Angel Pagan last December, but plenty about the trade made sense to him.

“Quite frankly, we thought it was a trade that was real easy for us to make,” Sabean said before the Giants lost 6-4 to the Cardinals last night in Game 1 of the NLCS. “Torres was a guy we could part with and we thought [Pagan] was an upgrade and we had some coverage in the bullpen. We could do without Ramirez.”

Pagan hit .288 with eight homers and 56 RBIs as the Giants center fielder, solidifying the leadoff spot late in the season after an unsuccessful stint batting fifth while Pablo Sandoval was on the disabled list for three weeks after the All-Star break.

Torres and Ramirez both flopped with the Mets. Torres battled a calf injury that cost him the first month of the season and batted only .230 overall with three homers and 35 RBIs. Ramirez was 3-4 with a 4.24 ERA in 58 relief appearances and never became the setup presence the Mets had envisioned.

“We wanted to get more athletic, [Pagan] is a switch hitter and we had liked how he played center in the past,” Sabean said. “We’ve got a big ballpark. He had hit all over the order, so it gave us a chance once we got our team together in spring training to see what our possibilities are.”

Torres attended the game and sat about 15 rows behind the plate. He spent much of the game posing for pictures with fans.

* The Giants were without first base coach Roberto Kelly last night, a day after he suffered a concussion when he was hit in the head by a line drive during batting practice Kelly, a former Yankees outfielder, was replaced in the first base coaching box by assistant hitting coach Joe Lefebvre.

* Torres attended the game and sat about 15 rows behind the plate. He spent much of the game posing for pictures with fans.

* Chris Carpenter, who spent most of the season on the DL, said he hes no inhibitions heading into tonight’s start.

“My stuff has gotten better and better,’’ said the Cards right-hander. “Still, mechanically at times I’m fighting stuff. But you do that all year anyway. I’m happy with where I’m at.’’