Best San Francisco Giants of the 2010s: 14. Marco Scutaro

The San Francisco Giants made one of the most impactful trade deadline additions in recent memory when they traded for Marco Scutaro in 2012.

The San Francisco Giants acquired Marco Scutaro from the Colorado Rockies at the 2012 trade deadline in exchange for fellow infielder Charlie Culberson.

The 36-year-old was hitting .271/.324/.361 with a 74 OPS+ at the time of the trade, but despite that middling production, he was still a clear upgrade over what had been a revolving door at the keystone with Freddy Sanchez injured.

No one could have guessed the impact he would make.

In 61 games, he hit .362/.385/.473 with 20 extra-base hits in 268 plate appearances for a 144 OPS+ and 2.1 WAR. That helped the Giants claim a postseason berth and effectively turned what was the biggest hole on the roster into a strength.

After a lackluster showing in the NLDS, he went 14-for-28 with three doubles, four RBI and six runs scored to win NLCS MVP and help lead the San Francisco Giants to the World Series. He then went 4-for-16 with three RBI in the four-game sweep of the Detroit Tigers.

Despite his age, that performance was enough for the Giants to re-sign him to a three-year, $20 million deal during the subsequent offseason.

He hit .297/.357/.369 with 23 doubles and 2.2 WAR in 2013, making the first and only All-Star Game appearance of his career along the way.

Unfortunately, he played in just five games the following season while dealing with back issues, and he eventually underwent back surgery that effective ended his MLB career.

So while that new three-year deal didn’t work out, the impact he made down the stretch and on into the postseason in 2012 is enough to earn him a spot among the 15 best San Francisco Giants players of the 2010s.

Check back here regularly as we count down the 50 best San Francisco Giants of the 2010s.