How They Got Here: The San Francisco Giants is a
one-by-one look at how each member of the 2012 World Series Champion San
Francisco Giants found their way to the squad. We'll look at all of the
players on the roster, as well as notable players who did not make the
postseason roster for whatever reason and the coaching staff and general
manager. Part fourteen is about outfielder Angel Pagan.
Angel Pagan was born on July 2, 1981, in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico. His early life was in a rough neighborhood, but baseball helped Pagan escape the perils of his home life, and he was drafted in 1999 in the fourth round by the New York Mets. Pagan began his professional career in the 2000 season with the Kingsport Mets of Kingsport, Tennessee, in the Rookie level Appalachian League. Here, he hit .361 with eight runs batted in. For 2001, he played in the Class A Short Season New York-Pennsylvania League with the Brooklyn Cyclones, before stepping up to the Class A Capital City Bombers of Columbia, South Carolina in the South Atlantic League. Between the two teams, he hit to a .312 batting average and twenty runs batted in, again failing to record a home run and acting more as a speed threat. Evidence of his speed comes from his three triples and thirty-three stolen bases. He started 2002 with Capital City again, and then progressed to the Class A Advanced St. Lucie Mets in Port St. Lucie, Florida. The majority of his season was spent with Capital City, where he hit .279 with one home run, thirty-six runs batted in, and fifty stolen bases, as well as five triples. In his sixteen games with St. Lucie, he added a triple, a home run, and ten stolen bases to his numbers. He played the full 2003 season with St. Lucie, hitting .249 with a home run, five triples, thirty-three runs batted in and thirty-five stolen bases. In 2004, Pagan progressed rapidly, joining the Class AA Binghamton Mets of Binghamton, New York in the Eastern League, where he posted a .287 batting average, eight triples, four home runs, sixty-three runs batted in and twenty-nine stolen bases, before ending the season with the Class AAA Norfolk Tides of the International League. He added three triples and four stolen bases in twelve games at this level. Pagan played the full 2005 season with the Tides, and hit to a .271 batting average, with ten triples, eight home runs, forty runs batted in, and twenty-seven stolen bases. On January 25, 2006, Pagan was purchased by the Chicago Cubs, and played all positions in the outfield for most of the season. His only time in the minor leagues was to rehabilitate an injury suffered on April 15th, and he made seven appearances split between the Arizona League Cubs in Mesa, Arizona at the Rookie level, and the Iowa Cubs of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League. He was strong in the first half of the season, but faded to a .247 batting average with two triples, five home runs, and eighteen runs batted in a down year. July 2nd was a bright spot, as he turned twenty-five, celebrating with his first two career home runs. Pagan started 2007 in the Des Moines with the Iowa Cubs, hitting .250 with three triples and home runs, nine runs batted in, and four stolen bases before being recalled. He again filled in at all spots in the outfield, playing until August 7th, when the disease colitis took him out of the lineup. He ended the year with a .264 batting average, as well as two triples, four home runs, and twenty-one runs batted in. The 2008 season began with Pagan being traded back to the Mets in exchange for Corey Coles and Ryan Meyers, both minor league players, on January 5th. Pagan played left field for the Mets, but went on the disabled lsit on May 12th. After a spectacular catch five days earlier, Pagan suffered a shoulder injury, which he attempted to rehabilitate with the Gulf Coast League Mets at the Rookie Level, as well as with the St. Lucie Mets and the Brooklyn Cyclones. It was with the Cyclones that he aggravated the injury and was required to undergo season ending surgery of July 29th. Pagan began 2009 with the New York Mets after recovering from the previous season's injury, but only played half of May before suffering a groin injury. He made his rehabilitation appearances with St. Lucie and then with the Buffalo Bisons of the Class AAA International League. He returned on July 10th, and had much excitement in his time with the Mets. He hit a grand slam on August 1st, and twice fell short of the cycle, once for a double and another time for a home run. He ended the year with a major league line of .306 for batting average, as well as eleven triples, six home runs, thirty-two runs batted in, and fourteen stolen bases. This was his best major league season so far. He was able to avoid the minor leagues in 2010, playing the entire season in New York. The results were strong, as he hit to a .290 batting average, seven triples, eleven home runs, sixty-nine runs batted in, and thirty-seven stolen bases, although his defense was lackluster. May 19th was a highlight, as he began a triple play from center field and also hit an inside-the-park home run in the same game. The 2010 season helped establish Pagan as a reliable everyday player in the majors. He continued his strong play in 2011 for the most part, but suffered an injury on April 21st and had to appear in St. Lucie for rehabilitation again. While his average dipped to .262, he still provided speed (four triples and thirty-two stolen bases) as well as modest power (seven home runs and fifty-six runs batted in). However, the Mets were uninterested in retaining his services for the next season, and traded him on December 7th to the San Francisco Giants in exchange for Andres Torres and Ramon Ramirez. His new start with the Giants was a star making season. He hit a solid .288 batting average, with a National League-leading fifteen triples, as well as eight home runs, fifty-six runs batted in, and twenty-nine stolen bases. He was firmly entrenched as a lead-off hitter this season, and carried that role into the postseason. He played in every playoff game, hitting only .188 with a triple, two home runs, and six runs batted in, while stealing a base in the World Series to activate Taco Bell's Steal A Base, Steal A Taco promotion. More notably, Pagan provided sterling defense at key times to keep the Giants alive, and it was his spectacular plays that helped propel the Giants to the World Series Championship.
Follow me on Twitter @KipperScorpion.
No comments :
Post a Comment